Linda Norgrove was kidnapped September 26 along with two Afghan drivers and a security guard. STORY HIGHLIGHTS- The abduction occurred last month in eastern Afghanistan
- The Foreign Office identifies the victim as Linda Norgrove
- Afghanistan
- NATO
- United Kingdom
London, England (CNN) -- A British aid worker held hostage in eastern Afghanistan since late last month was killed by her captors during a rescue attempt on Friday night, a top British official said Saturday.
Foreign Secretary William Hague identified the aid worker as Linda Norgrove.
"Working with our Allies we received information about where Linda was being held and we decided that, given the danger she was facing, her best chance of safe release was to act on that information," Hague said in a written statement.
"Responsibility for this tragic outcome rests squarely with the hostage takers. From the moment they took her, her life was under grave threat. Given who held her, and the danger she was in, we judged that Linda's best chance lay in attempting to rescue her."
Linda Norgrove's Facebook page
An Afghan official said last month that the British woman, two Afghan drivers and a security guard had been kidnapped after an exchange of gunfire September 26 in the Chawkay district of eastern Kunar province.
Abdul Marjan Adel, a local provincial official, had said that the four were being held in a "very remote area," and that Afghan and international forces were looking for them. He said they were healthy and located in the Dewcar valley.
Provincial officials had created a council of district elders, religious scholars and provincial council members to negotiate with the abductors, he said.
Hague expressed his gratitude to NATO allies and Afghan forces "for doing all they could to secure the safe release of the woman."
"Hostage taking is never justified and the UK does not make concessions to hostage-takers. But whenever British nationals are kidnapped, we and our allies will do everything in our power to free them," he said.