WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US government will compensate the families of US citizen Dr. Warren Weinstein and Italian national Giovanni Lo Porto, who were accidentally killed in a US drone strike while held hostage by al-Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the White House said in a statement on Thursday.
“I’m not aware of what the details of that compensation is, but I could tell you that compensation will be provided to both families, Dr. Weistein’s and the family of Mr. Lo Porto,” White House Spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Al-Qaeda captured Weinstein and Lo Porto in Pakistan where they worked on providing humanitarian aid. The terrorist organization held Weinstein hostage since 2011 and Lo Porto since 2012, according to the White House.
The White House explained that US President Barack Obama had kept the information about the counterterrorism operation classified until Thursday.
The US government will conduct a thorough independent review of the drone operation in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, according to the White House.
