Briton, Italian killed in failed rescue bid

Rome condemns botched raid to free hostages in Nigeria, seeks clarification

A British-Nigerian operation, using helicopters and hundreds of troops including the elite SAS, to rescue two abducted foreigners went awry on Friday with the militant group Boko Haram killing the captives.

The special troops failed in their daring bid after waging a gun battle lasting over seven hours, with the Briton, Chris McManus, and his Italian co-worker, Franco Lamolinara, killed in the operation.

Italy seethed with anger for being kept in the dark about the deadly raid in the northwestern Nigerian city of Sokoto. At least two of the captors were also killed in the raid.

In the strongest condemnation, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano told reporters in Rome: “The behaviour of the British government in not informing Italy is inexplicable.”
“A political and diplomatic clarification is necessary.”

While Nigerian President Jonathan Goodluck blamed Boko Haram for the death of the hostages and said the killers had been arrested, British Prime Minister David Cameron took responsibility for authorising the botched operation.

Cameron said he had given the go-ahead for the rescue mission after the UK received “credible information” about the location of the two hostages.

Expatriate engineers
The Briton and the Italian, both expatriate engineers, were kidnapped in May last year for ransom from their residence in Nigeria’s northern city of Birnin Kebbi.

While officials gave gave scant details about the Entebbe-style operation, BBC and other British media reports said the operation included personnel from the Special Boat Service (SBS) who had been in Nigeria for a fortnight.

The now dead engineers worked for Italian company B Stabilini in Abuja where they were handling a construction work at the country’s central bank.

Nigerian authorities, with British support, had launched the attempt to rescue the men after “a window of opportunity arose to secure their release”.