Obama ‘sorry’ for deaths of hostages killed in strikes

An American and an Italian held hostage by al Qaeda, as well as two Americans working with the terror group, were inadvertently killed by US drone strikes earlier this year, the White House has said.

President Barack Obama said he took “full responsibility” for the counter-terror missions and offered his “grief and condolences” to the families of the hostages.

Obama defended the legality of the January drone strike that killed the hostages and said there had been no evidence that the two men were present at what the US had determined was an al Qaeda compound.