Obama on hostage deaths: 'I profoundly regret what happened'

President Obama has announced that two hostages were killed in January in a US counter-terrorism operation in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He said the men - American Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto from Italy - had been held by al-Qaeda for several years.

President Obama said the two hostages had been killed accidentally, describing it as a painful loss that he profoundly regretted.