No government attempted military rescue of Nigeria hostages

ROME: The killing of foreign hostages by Nigerian Islamists was not the response to a rescue attempt, cited by the Ansaru group as the reason for the deaths, Italy's foreign ministry said on Sunday.

"There was never any military attempt to rescue the hostages by any of the governments concerned," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said the killing "can have no explanation other than blind and barbaric violence."