British aid worker had ESCAPED Taliban captors and was in foetal position when elite troops detonated grenade

A British aid worker who died during a botched raid on the compound where she was being held hostage had escaped her captors and was hiding when a U.S. grenade killed her.

Linda Norgrove was cowering in a foetal position when troops detonated the deadly grenade.

Now an elite U.S. commando is facing disciplinary action over the death of the 36-year-old after it emerged he failed to tell his commanding officers he had used a grenade.


* Soldier faces disciplinary action after failing to reveal grenade was used
* Troops did not spot hostage even though they had night-vision goggles
* U.S. commanders watched the horror unfold on big screens at mission HQ
* Miss Norgrove's body arrives back in Britain on military plane

Tragic: Aid worker Linda Norgrove had worked in South America and the Far East before Afghanistan

American officials initially claimed Miss Norgrove had been killed when one of her Taliban captors detonated a suicide vest.

But after reviewing footage captured on the Navy Seals' helmet cameras the U.S. was forced to apologise for the fatal blunder.

Now sources in Kabal and London have revealed new details about the raid which was ordered after intelligence suggested Miss Norgrove was about to be passed up the terrorist chain.

The soldier who is believed to have killed Miss Norgrove was part of the crack Seal Team Six, which abseiled into the target compound in the early hours of Saturday.

Six insurgents holding Miss Norgrove were killed in the fierce gun battle that followed.

But it is now claimed the Seals did not see one of the Taliban drag the aid worker out of a hut or Miss Norgrove break free, even though they were wearing night-vision goggles.

Reviewing video images of the raid, their commander saw one soldier hurl the grenade into the compound four seconds before a blast killed Miss Norgrove.

The troops involved in the assault - in the remote, mountainous Korengal Valley - were asked if any of them had used a fragmentation grenade and one confessed.

A family friend of Miss Norgrove’s parents John, 60, and Lorna, 62, said: ‘It seems they almost rescued Linda and it makes it even more painful that it went so tragically wrong at the point when they were on the verge of freeing her.’

Miss Norgrove's body was flown back to Britain today.

A spokeswoman for RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire said the remains of the 36-year-old was brought to the base by military plane.

However it is likely to be several more days before they will be released to her family because of post mortem tests.

The Scottish Government has said that under current legislation any inquest into her death will be held in England. Scotland has no powers to hold a Fatal Accident Inquiry into a death abroad.

A funeral on the Isle of Lewis is expected sometime next week.

Prime Minister David Cameron was today meeting General Petraeus at Downing Street and although the meeting was planned before Miss Norgrove died the failed operation will be top of the agenda.

On Monday an ashen-faced Mr Cameron confirmed it was likely Miss Norgrove died due to friendly fire. He said he would replay the circumstances leading up to the green light for the operation ‘100 times’ in his head.

Although Mr Cameron has been keen to blame terrorists rather than U.S. troops for the death, military sources have raised concerns about the training the team had for hostage situations.

The Prime Minister, who has already spoken with the general and US president Barack Obama about the incident by telephone, said yesterday that the picture was still 'unclear' about how the hostage situation had ended.

He added: 'It is an impossibly difficult decision to make about whether to launch a raid and try to free a hostage.

'In the end we must all be clear: the responsibility for Linda's death lies with those cowardly, ruthless people who took her hostage in the first place.'

Asked if he had considered using British special forces to try to rescue Miss Norgrove, Mr Cameron said: ‘Of course I asked a huge number of questions.’ But he insisted it would have been ‘quite unorthodox’ for him to overrule commanders on the ground and insist on British special forces undertaking the rescue in an area known by U.S. forces.

Originally from Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands, Miss Norgrove was working for the U.S. firm Development Alternatives Inc in the east of Afghanistan when she was seized by militants in Kunar province on September 26.

Action was taken after reports that Miss Norgrove was soon to be moved to another, secret location.

The first intelligence suggesting Miss Norgrove’s whereabouts – a few buildings surrounded by a perimeter wall – had come from U.S. pilotless drones. She had reputedly been moved after being seized on her way to open a new water project.

An experienced aid worker who had served in South America and the Far East, she had been travelling in the region wearing a burqa to disguise the fact that she was a Westerner in this insurgents’ stronghold.

Her parents John and Lorna Norgrove have said they believe launching the raid was the right thing to do.

THE DEADLY DAWN MISSION: HOW DARING RAID TO FREE AID WORKER ENDED IN DISASTER

Miss Norgrove was seized with three Afghan colleagues, all of whom were soon released. She soon became the subject of frantic negotiations between British agents and local tribal leaders.

Nato forces had also received ‘hu-mint’ – human intelligence from local, paid spies – confirming the hostage’s location in the Korengal Valley, one of the most dangerous and lawless places in Afghanistan.

Disturbing intelligence suggested she was about to be smuggled over the border to an even more lawless area in Pakistan, where she would be held to ransom or used as a bargaining chip.

‘It was clear from very early on that the level of threat was very high that she would be moved from the very bad people who were holding her to even worse people across the border in Pakistan,’ said a senior security source.

‘The last thing we wanted was for her to be passed into the hands of Al Qaeda. It was agreed that if there was an opportunity to mount a special forces mission we should do so.’

The plan was to attack the hideout at night before the insurgents rose for dawn prayers.

Dressed in black, wearing night-vision goggles and carrying automatic weapons and grenades, a small band of Navy Seals – the U.S. equivalent of the SAS – were informed that over their earpieces that the situation was a ‘go’.

When the raid began Miss Norgrove is believed to have been sleeping in a separate mud-floored room with women and children.

First, a small party of men – the ‘forward extraction’ unit – crept into the compound on foot. Snipers were deployed to pick off anyone attempting to flee.

With the forward team in place, back-up arrived in helicopters and abseiled down ropes into the compound.

The Seals then sprinted to the building where Miss Norgrove was being held, as 150 other U.S. troops surrounded the compound.

Using Colt M4A1 automatic rifles and grenades, five Navy Seals were engaged in a vicious fire-fight as they attempted to get to the hostage. She was being guarded by at least eight terrorists.

Despite the fierce Taliban resistance, the Seals managed to fight their way towards the Miss Norgrove’s building. And then, with six Taliban gunmen already dead, one of the Seals threw a grenade through the door.

When the Seals entered the room, they found Linda Norgrove. She was still alive, but had terrible injuries caused by the grenade blast. Although she received medical attention it was too late to save her.

Meeting: David Cameron talks with US Army General David Petraeus, second left, during their meeting in 10 Downing Street this afternoon

Hostage: Miss Norgrove died during raid

Grief: Miss Norgrove's parents Lorna and John want clarity about events surrounding their daughter's death