The White House says that two hostages, an American and an Italian, died in Pakistan earlier this year as the result of a United States-launched drone strike that also killed two US citizens involved with Al-Qaeda.

The White House says that two hostages, an American and an Italian, died in Pakistan earlier this year as the result of a United States-launched drone strike that also killed two US citizens involved with Al-Qaeda.

“It is with tremendous sorrow that we recently concluded that a US government counterterrorism operation in January killed two innocent hostages held by Al-Qaeda since 2011,” reads a statement released by the White House press office on Thursday morning.

Officials say that an attack in January against a suspected terrorist compound caused the death of American development expert Dr. Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian aid worker.

Italy on Thursday described the death of hostage Giovanni Lo Porto a "tragic and fatal error by our US allies" but said "terrorists" were entirely to blame.