William Hague confirms kidnapped Briton was killed by US grenade

Elite US special forces have been disciplined after the failed rescue bid during which kidnapped British aid worker Linda Norgrove died.

Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed that she was killed by a grenade thrown by a US soldier during the effort to free her after she was taken hostage in Afghanistan.

It was initially reported that an explosive suicide vest detonated by her captors caused Ms Norgrove's death in October but it emerged her injuries were the result of the grenade thrown during a firefight.

In a Commons statement, Mr Hague said a joint US-UK investigation found that a failure to disclose what had happened breached US military law. "As a result members of the rescue team have been disciplined for failing to provide a complete and full account of their actions," he said.

But he said the US troops had shown the "utmost courage". When the assault was launched, they believed Ms Norgrove, 36, was being held in an upper set of buildings in the Afghan mountains, but she died near a lower group.

Mr Hague said: "The operation took place during the night in total darkness. US forces were required to land on the near-vertical incline of a rugged mountainside, 8,000 feet in height, within a narrow valley, and to assault a series of buildings built into the steep slope on several levels."

An inquest heard the aid worker died of penetrating fragment injuries to head and chest. Ms Norgrove was seized by militants on September 26.