On 26 September 2010, British aid worker Linda Norgrove and three Afghan colleagues were kidnapped by members of the Taliban in the Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan. She was working in the country as regional director for Development Alternatives Incorporated, a contractor for US and other government agencies. The group were taken to the nearby Dewegal Valley area. United States and Afghan forces began a search of the area, placing roadblocks to prevent the group from being moved east into Pakistan. Norgrove's captors demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui in exchange for her return. The Taliban released the three Afghans on 3 October 2010 during negotiations. The United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group conducted a predawn rescue attempt five days later on the Taliban mountain hideout where Norgrove was held captive, amid concerns that she would be killed or moved by her kidnappers. US forces killed several kidnappers and three local farmers during the assault. They subsequently located Norgrove, badly wounded in a nearby gully, and she died later from her injuries. Initial reports said that she had been killed by an explosion set off by one of her captors. A joint official investigation by the United Kingdom and the United States later concluded that her fatal injuries were inflicted by a grenade thrown by one of her rescuers. A February 2011 coroner's narrative verdict reported that Norgrove died during the failed rescue attempt. In October 2012, one of her colleagues said in an interview that the captors had told Norgrove that they had no intention of killing her. Early life, education and work Norgrove was born in Altnaharra, Scotland, in 1974 to John and Lorna Norgrove. She grew up on a croft on the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles, attending a primary school in Uig. She later attended the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway. Norgrove attended the University of Aberdeen, receiving a first-class honours degree in tropical environmental science; her coursework included postgraduate research at the University of Chiapas in Mexico and a year of study at the University of Oregon (1993–94). She attended the University of London, receiving a MA with distinction in rural resources and environmental policy in 1997. In 2002, Norgrove received a PhD from the University of Manchester in development policy and management. From 2002 to 2005, she worked for the World Wide Fund in Peru, supporting (and later supervising) the WWF's Forest