KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- The rescue of New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell, kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan, drew a mixed bag of comments Friday.

The British reporter ignored "very strong advice" by traveling to the area of Afghanistan where he was kidnapped Saturday, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.

Some officials said talks on his release were progressing and the raid was not necessary, while others said talks were going nowhere.

Farrell was freed Wednesday by NATO special forces in a pre-dawn raid that left four people dead, including his Afghan translator, Sultan Munadi, and a British paratrooper, Cpl. John Harrison.

Miliband said that Farrell was "obviously on the one hand very brave and on the other hand he went against very strong advice that it was extremely dangerous to be in that area."

Senior army sources said they were furious that special forces were called in to rescue the journalist because he apparently ignored warnings to stay out of the area.

A NATO source, however, told The Guardian, "Being stupid does not give you a death sentence."

The British prime minister's office defended the operation, saying it provided the "best chance of protecting life."

Ministers gave the green light to the raid when they were told negotiations to release Farell had stalled. Officials were adamant Friday that all the intelligence they received was that the negotiations were failing.