US acknowledges January operation killed American and Italian hostages

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday said an American counterterrorism operation in January killed two hostages, one American and one Italian, who were held by al Qaeda in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The operation in which American doctor Warren Weinstein and Italian Giovanni Lo Porto were killed also resulted in the death of an American al Qaeda leader, Ahmed Farouq, the White House said. Another American al Qaeda member, Adam Gadahn, also was killed, likely in a separate operation, the White House added.

In a statement, the White House expressed sorrow over the hostage deaths and said the United States had no reason to believe hostages were at the targeted compound. But Obama also said that the operation in which the two hostages were killed was consistent with US guidlines for targeted strikes against Al Qaeda leadership.

"We believed that this was an Al Qaeda compound, that no civilians were present, and that capturing the terorrists was not possible," Obama said in a statement delivered from the White House.