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, officials said.
The woman was identified as Linda Norgrove, who worked for DAI -- an agency that provides various services to developing nations. Norgrove spent much of her career managing projects for farmers and rural workers.
James Boomgard, DAI president and chief executive officer, called the news "devastating" and said his operation is "saddened beyond words by the death of a wonderful woman whose sole purpose in Afghanistan was to do good".
"Linda loved Afghanistan and cared deeply for its people, and she was deeply committed to her development mission. She was an inspiration to many of us here at DAI and she will be deeply missed".
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a written statement that his forces received information about where she was held and "decided that, given the danger she was facing, her best chance of safe release was to act on that information".
"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.
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.
CNN
