Two hostages killed in anti-terror operation, admits US

The White House said on Thursday that a US counter-terrorism operation in January killed two hostages, one American and an Italian, held by Al Qaeda in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Xinhua news agency reported.

"It is with tremendous sorrow that we recently concluded that a US government counter-terrorism operation in January killed two innocent hostages held by Al Qaeda," said a White House statement.

"Analysis of all available information has led the intelligence community to judge with high confidence that the operation accidentally killed both hostages," said the statement.

According to the statement, the slain hostages were Warren Weinstein, an American held by Al Qaeda since 2011, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian national who was an Al Qaeda hostage since 2012.

"The president directed that the information being shared today, which was properly classified until now, be declassified and shared with the American people," said the statement, adding that US President Barack Obama took full responsibility for the operations.

Meanwhile, the statement said two other Americans, an Al Qaeda leader and a prominent member of the group, were recently killed in US counter-terrorism operations in the same region.