Hostages Killed in Drone Strike Were Devoted to Aid Work

The New York Times profiles humanitarian workers Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto following President Barack Obama’s admission Thursday that they were killed in a January drone attack on an Al Qaeda compound in Pakistan. The 73-year-old American and the 37-year-old Italian had been held hostage by Islamic militants since mid-2011 and early 2012, respectively.

Mr. Weinstein, a longtime world traveler and aid worker, had lived in Pakistan for more than a decade, learning Urdu, wearing native garb, and laboring to improve living conditions and strengthen local industries. Mr. Lo Porto, who previously worked in Haiti and the Central African Republic, had recently arrived in Pakistan with German relief organization Welthungerhilfe when he was kidnapped.