Before photojournalist James Foley's gruesome murder at the hands of Islamist extremists, the United States attempted to rescue hostages held by the group known as ISIS, according to new information released by the government.

In a statement, the Defense Department's spokesman, Rear Adm. John Kirby, explained that the government tried to rescue hostages held by ISIS but did not succeed.

"This operation involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL. Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location," the statement said.

The Pentagon's statement continued explaining "the United States government is committed to the safety and well-being of its citizens, particularly those suffering in captivity" and "we put the best of the United States military in harms' way to try and bring our citizens home."

President Barack Obama's Assistant for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Lisa Monaco, corroborated the news of an attempted rescue.

"The President authorized action at this time because it was the national security team's assessment that these hostages were in danger with each passing day in ISIL custody. The U.S. Government had what we believed was sufficient intelligence, and when the opportunity presented itself, the President authorized the Department of Defense to move aggressively to recover our citizens," the statement said.

Monaco, however, declined to provide any further information on the attempted rescue. According to CBS News and the Associated Press, special operations troops were deployed somewhere in Syria via aircraft, engaging ISIS militants but unable to find the hostages.

Among the hostages, CBS News confirms, was James Foley. The administration acted on "good but not great" information, according to CBS News and the AP, "and the decision to launch the mission was made because of the sense of the peril the hostages faced." Otherwise, the administration would have acted more cautiously.

Yet, the Obama administration did not plan on making the rescue attempt public, except the media planned to break the news, according to the Washington Post.

"We never intended to disclose this operation. An overriding concern for the safety of the hostages and for operational security made it imperative that we preserve as much secrecy as possible," said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.