linda norgrove

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."

Norgrove was being held by two Taliban commanders, Mullah Bair and Mullah Keftan, who were both killed in the raid, an Afghan intelligence official said.

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.