The rescue attempt of two European hostages in Nigeria developed by British government on Thursday, March 9^th which actually failed, is highly condemned by Italy, as they weren't properly informed and consulted during the operations. A day after the kidnappers as well as the hostages were killed during the rescue attempt, the Italian President Giorgio Napolitano told reporters the Britain's behavior is really inexplicable: "The behaviour of the British government, which did not inform or consult with Italy on the operation that it was planning, really is inexplicable." "There needs to be a political and diplomatic clarification," later added.

And at an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Copenhagen later Friday, Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata said he made Italy's feelings clear during talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. "I asked for detailed information because we have a right to maximum clarity on this episode," said Italy's foreign minister. "I also communicated the immense suffering that this news caused an Italian family," he told reporters. "And I insisted that the information we have requested be sent to us as soon as possible, in the coming hours."

Their comments reflected growing anger in Italy over the failed rescue bid, as witnesses in Sokoto in northwestern Nigeria described a British-Nigerian operation involving 100 troops, military trucks and a helicopter. They said the intense gun battle that lasted for several hours, during which at least two hostage-takers were killed.

Britain said Italian engineer Francesco Molinara, 48, and his British colleague Chris McManus, 28, were shot by their captors during the assault.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan had said that the kidnappers were from Islamist group Boko Haram, which has waged a violent campaign mainly in the country’s northeast. But a spokesman for Boko Haram denied any involvement in the kidnapping.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron defends the operation, saying they've received some credible information after months of not knowing anything and mounted the operation immediately in Sokoto, apparently a quit city in Nigeria's northwest. "The terrorists holding the two hostages made very clear threats to take their lives, including in a video that was posted on the Internet," Cameron said. Meanwhile, the exact circumstances of how and when the men died remained unclear. Security forced cordoned off the area, and journalists were not allowed within a kilometer of the site.

An editorial in Italy's top-selling Corriere della Sera daily said of the row: "It is an unacceptable slap in the face and saying sorry is not enough." The left-leaning Repubblica daily said the incident was "a blow for Italy's new-found international credibility" and the Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper cited government sources saying there was "a real chill in relations between Rome and London".

AFP received a video showing McManus and Lamolinara in August. In the footage, both men said their kidnappers were from Al-Qaeda. In a second video received by a Mauritanian news agency and seen by AFP in December, gunmen threatened to execute McManus if their demands were not met. AFP also posted a picture of a bullet stained wall from the supposed location where the kinappers were killed (see it below).

The two hostages were kidnapped by heavily armed men who stormed their apartment in Kebbi state in May 2011. They had been helping build a central bank building in the city and worked for construction firm Stabilini Visinoni.