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HOSTAGE DRAMA OVER - 55+ KILLED (32 TERRORISTS, 23+ HOSTAGES)


nancyk58

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MANY HOSTAGES DEAD FOLLOWING ARMY OPERATION IN ALGERIA

 

Link to BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21063370

 

An Algerian military operation is under way at a gas facility in eastern Algeria where hostages were being held, Algeria's state news agency reports.

 

Four foreign hostages were freed but the operation resulted in a number of "victims", APS agency said.

 

Algerian soldiers had been surrounding the facility near In Amenas that kidnappers occupied on Wednesday, after killing a Briton and an Algerian.

 

Reports quoting militants said at least 34 hostages and 14 kidnappers died.

 

Militants told Mauritania's ANI news agency that seven foreign hostages were still alive after the Algerian military raid.

 

Nearly 600 Algerian workers and four foreign hostages - two from Scotland, one from France and one from Kenya - were freed during the operation, APS reported.

 

An Irishman who had been kidnapped was freed and has spoken to his family, Ireland's foreign ministry said.

 

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/17/world/mali-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

 

Some foreign hostages freed in Algeria operation, report says

By Said Chitour, Faith Karimi and Joe Sterling, CNN

 

January 17, 2013 -- Updated 1549 GMT (2349 HKT)

 

Algiers, Algeria (CNN) -- Some of the foreigners taken hostage by Islamist militants at an Algerian gas plant have been freed in an operation by the Algerian army, the country's state run news agency reported Thursday, but there are reports of casualties.

 

The freed hostages are two Britons, a Kenyan and a French citizen, the Algerian Press Service said. The report also said there are a number of casualties from the operation, but the exact number is not yet known. CNN could not independently confirm the report. CNN affiliate BFM-TV reported the French citizen is a nurse who worked on the site.

 

An Irish hostage is also free, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs told CNN.

 

Algerian troops fired on two SUVs trying to leave the kidnapping site, Algerian radio said, citing local sources. An Algerian reporter saw heavy clashes near the site, APS and radio reports said.

 

The hostages were taken in an attack by militants on the gas plant and oil field in the desert Wednesday, apparently a direct response to the French offensive in neighboring Mali.

 

The BP gas field is 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of the Libyan border and 1,300 kilometers from the Algerian capital, Algiers.

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The situation is currently a real mess and many different sources from different countries seem to say everything and its opposite. Many hostages apparently managed to flee, some may have been released, some were killed, some are still held hostages.

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^ Nor do I.

 

This morning it was reported that 2 more Norwegians escaped (or maybe they were able to hide) - they are now in safety.

 

The kidnappers might still have up to 30 hostages. Situation still unclear.

 

The kidnappers wanted some islamists out of Algerian prisons, and they want France to stop its intervention in Mali in support of the very fragile government there in its fight against the islamists taking over all of Mali.

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LATEST from Swedish SVT Text:

 

11 of the 17 Statoil employees are now in safety. It is unclear what happened to the last 6 Norwegians.

 

15 charred bodies (burned dead bodies) found in the gas facility / plant

 

Algerian soldiers have found 15 charred (burned) bodies in the gas facility that was attacked by terrorists. The 15 bodies will be difficult - if not impossible - to identify.

 

Yesterday evening, state-run Algerian news agency APS reported that 12 Algerians and foreign hostages were dead.

 

The number of dead kidnappers was stated to be 18.

 

According to Algerian security sources, 2 Japanese, 2 British and one French had been killed.

 

 

It is still unclear how many are held hostage in the gas facility in east Algeria.

 

The kidnappers claim that they hold 7 foreigners (3 Belgian, 2 Americans, one Japanese and one British).

 

Today an Algerian security source says to AFP that the hostages consist of 10 persons.

 

Missing are i.a. 10 Japanese and 6 Norwegians.

 

From the beginning at least 650 people were taken hostage, most of them Algerians.

 

SVT Text

 

 

Drama has connection to MALI and LIBYA

 

The kidnappers might have planned to take the hostages to Libya when the Algerian army struck / attacked them. The security situation in Libya is very poor. Libya has a "good environment" for armed islamist groups to operate in. So Inga Brandell, professor in Political Science at Södertörns highschool in Sweden.

 

SVT Text

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LATEST from Swedish SVT Text:

 

11 of the 17 Statoil employees are now in safety. It is unclear what happened to the last 6 Norwegians.

 

15 dead bodies found in the gas facility / plant

 

Algerian soldiers have found 15 burned bodies in the gas facility that was attacked by terrorists. The 15 bodies have not been identified.

 

Yesterday evening, state-run Algerian news agency APS reported that 12 Algerians and foreign hostages were dead.

 

The number of dead kidnappers was stated to be 18.

 

According to Algerian security sources, 2 Japanese, 2 British and one French had been killed.

 

 

It is still unclear how many are held hostage in the gas facility in east Algeria.

 

The kidnappers claim that they hold 7 foreigners (3 Belgian, 2 Americans, one Japanese and one British).

 

Today an Algerian security source says to AFP that the hostages consist of 10 persons.

 

Missing are i.a. 10 Japanese and 6 Norwegians.

 

From the beginning at least 650 people were taken hostage, most of them Algerians.

 

SVT Text

 

 

Drama has connection to MALI and LIBYA

 

The kidnappers might have planned to take the hostages to Libya when the Algerian army struck / attacked them. The security situation in Libya is very poor. Libya has a "good environment" for armed islamist groups to operate in. So Inga Brandell, professor in Political Science at Södertörns highschool in Sweden.

 

SVT Text

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It was announced by France's Minister of Defense that there are no longer any French hostages. One died and the others escaped or were liberated.

 

 

 

Relatively good news. It is not nice to be left without knowledge of their fate.

 

15 burned bodies found - it will be impossible to identify these bodies.

 

So some might never know - or at least for a long time not know - what happened to their dear ones - if they were among the hostages who burned to dead. Horrible.

 

There is also talk of a man with blond hair and blue or green eyes who spoke a language to the Norwegians that they immediately understood - and the language was not English. That has led to speculation whether a "Norwegian" is among the kidnappers.

 

It is also said that the kidnapping was done easily - with none or very little resistance as if there was help from inside the gas facility!!

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HOSTAGE DRAMA IS OVER: 18 KILLED - 11 TERRORISTS, 7 HOSTAGES - Algeria's first attack

 

 

The Algerian newspaper El Watan reports that 11 terrorists have been shot by Algerian terrorists and that 7 hostages have been executed.

 

That means that 4 days of drama should finally be over.

 

16 foreign hostages have been freed / liberated in Algeria including 2 Americans, 2 Germans and one Portuguese - so local sources tell Reuters.

 

The nationality of the remaining 11 hostages are not yet known.

 

Source: Danish TV2 News Live

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LATEST ON HOSTAGE OPERATION SUNDAY 10.00 GMT

 

LATEST DEATH TOLL: 23 HOSTAGES DEAD - 32 KIDNAPPERS DEAD

 

 

LATEST FROM BBC NEWS:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/

 

The number of foreign and Algerian hostages killed in the siege at a desert gas plant - presently 23 - could rise, an Algerian minister warns.

 

Three Britons dead in Algeria - PM

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21106795

 

20 January 2013 Last updated at 10:07 GMT

 

 

Algeria crisis: Hostage death toll 'could rise'

 

The death toll of foreign and Algerian workers taken hostage during a siege at a desert gas facility may rise from 23, an Algerian minister has warned.

 

A final tally would be released in the coming hours, communications minister Mohammed Said told Algerian radio.

 

British, US, Norwegian, and Japanese nationals are among the missing after the siege at In Amenas, which was ended by an Algerian army raid on Saturday.

 

Algeria said its troops had killed all 32 hostage-takers.

 

Officials said the army launched its assault after Islamist militants began killing foreign hostages.

 

Mr Said said he very much feared the death toll "would, unfortunately, be revised upwards".

 

He added that the militants were from six different countries, "nationals of Arab and African countries, and of non-African countries".

 

UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama have blamed "terrorists" for the hostages' deaths.

 

Missing

 

Three Britons are confirmed dead, and a further three are missing, feared dead. Their families had undergone an "absolutely dreadful ordeal", Mr Cameron said on Sunday.

 

UK officials were "working hard" to locate the missing, said Foreign Secretary William Hague.

 

"Everything seems to indicate" that a Colombian citizen resident in the UK is among the dead, the Colombian president has said.

 

But he added that information about Carlos Estrada, who worked for BP, was "not 100%".

 

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned of bad news to come.

 

"According to what we have heard from the Algerian government, there is indeed grim information about our citizens," he said.

 

Mr Abe said he had asked the Algerian prime minister to make all efforts towards confirming the status of Japanese nationals.

 

Two Malaysians are unaccounted for, as are five Norwegians.

 

"This attack is another reminder of the threat posed by al-Qaeda and other violent extremist groups in North Africa," said Mr Obama on Saturday.

 

"We will continue to work closely with all of our partners to combat the scourge of terrorism in the region."

 

Mr Cameron called it a "vicious and cowardly attack". He acknowledged there had been some criticism of the Algerian authorities' response, but said it was "extremely difficult to respond and get this right in every respect".

 

Mortars and RPGs

 

State news agency APS said 685 Algerian workers and 107 out of 132 foreigners working at the plant had been freed, citing interior ministry figures.

 

The nationalities of some of the hostages killed are still not known.

 

The UK Foreign Office has confirmed that some British nationals caught up in the Algerian hostage crisis returned home overnight.

 

No details were released, but a spokesman said the foreign secretary would give an update later on Sunday.

 

The crisis began on Wednesday when militants attacked two buses carrying foreign workers to the remote site in south-eastern Algeria. A Briton and an Algerian reportedly died in the incident.

 

The militants then took Algerians and expatriates hostage at the complex, which was quickly surrounded by the Algerian army.

 

A statement from the kidnappers said the assault on the gas plant was launched in retaliation for French intervention against Islamist groups in neighbouring Mali.

 

However, France only decided last week to intervene militarily in Mali. Analysts say the assault on the gas facility was well-planned and would have required advance research, as well as possibly inside help.

 

The leader of the hostage-takers was a veteran fighter from Niger, named as Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri by the Mauritanian news agency ANI, which had been in contact with the militants.

 

The Algerian armed forces attacked on Thursday as militants tried to move some of their captives from the facility.

 

APS reported before Saturday's second raid that a group of militants remained holed up in a workshop with the remaining hostages.

 

One Algerian worker, who gave his name only as Chabane, told the Associated Press that at one point the militants caught a man he described as a Briton.

 

"They threatened him until he called out in English to his friends, telling them, 'Come out, come out, they're not going to kill you. They're looking for the Americans'," Chabane told AP.

 

"A few minutes later, they blew him away," he said. Chabane's account could not be independently confirmed.

 

The In Amenas gas field is situated at Tigantourine, about 40km (25 miles) south-west of the town of In Amenas and 1,300km (800 miles) south-east of Algiers.

 

The plant is jointly run by BP, Norway's Statoil and Algeria's state-owned oil company.

 

 

 

The Algerian authorities fear that a handful of hostage-takers / islamists are still hiding inside the gas plant. Security forces are searching for a small group of islamists that might be hiding somewhere in the enormous area - this New York Times reports.

 

Swedish SVT Text

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It is indeed very confusing. Data uncertain.

 

But a review:

 

After the first raid, Algerian media citing reliable sources (army / government) spoke of 18 killed - 11 hostage-takers and 7 hostages.

 

Yesterday, after the second raid following figures were published: 23 hostages dead, all 32 hostage-takers killed.

 

Then later Saturday: 15 charred (burned) bodies found - probably unidentify-able

 

Today Sunday: 25 more dead bodies found inside the gas plant.

 

Latest today, Sunday 20.1.13: 5 hostage-takers arrested by Algerian security forces - 3 hostage-takers still free!!

 

 

9 Japanese should have been confirmed dead.

 

3 British nationals killed, 3 more probably killed - and one British resident also presumed killed.

 

5 Norwegians still missing.

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Latest from BBC:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/

 

20 January 2013 Last updated at 16:28 GMT

 

Algeria "kidnappers taken alive"

 

 

Five suspected hostage-takers are arrested after the Algerian gas plant siege, reports say, a day after the government said that all had been killed.

 

 

Five suspected members of the Islamist group which held foreign and local workers hostage at an Algerian gas plant have been arrested, reports say.

 

The reports came a day after the Algerian authorities said all 32 hostage-takers had been killed at the In Amenas gas installation.

 

At least 23 staff at the facility died during the four-day siege, with some Western workers still unaccounted for.

 

The siege was ended in a raid by troops on Saturday.

 

Officials said the army launched its assault after Islamist militants began killing foreign hostages.

 

British, US, Norwegian, and Japanese nationals are among those still missing.

 

Algerian Communications Minister Mohammed Said said earlier that the militants were from six different countries, "nationals of Arab and African countries, and of non-African countries".

 

Mr Said added that a final death toll would be released in the coming hours.

 

Mauritanian website Sahara Media says Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the suspected organiser of the siege, has claimed responsibility for it in a video message.

 

The website said the video - recorded on 17 January while the siege was still going on but not posted on the website - showed the militant leader saying he was prepared to negotiate with Western and Algerian leaders if operations against Islamists in Mali were stopped.

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Latest from BBC:

 

21 January 2013 Last updated at 14:12 GMT

 

Algeria siege: Hostage takers 'came from Mali'

 

Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal has said the 32 militants who took dozens of people hostage at a gas plant had "come from northern Mali'.

 

As many as 48 hostages - including foreigners - are thought to have died at the site near the town of In Amenas.

 

About 20 captives remain unaccounted for after the four-day siege, which ended on Sunday.

 

The militants said they took hostages in retaliation for French intervention against Islamists in Mali.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21115692

 

21 January 2013 Last updated at 13:53 GMT

 

Algeria crisis: PM to update MPs on aftermath

 

David Cameron will address MPs on the Algerian hostage crisis later, as efforts continue to locate three remaining Britons feared dead.

 

A raid by Algerian troops on Saturday ended a four-day siege that is thought to have left at least 48 hostages dead.

 

Three Britons are already confirmed dead, with two of the victims named as Paul Thomas Morgan and Kenny Whiteside.

 

The prime minister has said there could be a decades-long battle against Islamist terrorism in north Africa.

 

A UK-based Colombian is also thought to be dead.

 

Twenty-two British survivors have been flown back to the UK and reunited with their families.

 

'Global response'

 

The prime minister is chairing a meeting of the government's emergency committee, Cobra, on Monday morning.

 

Speaking on Sunday, Mr Cameron said: "What we face is an extremist, Islamist, al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group. Just as we had to deal with that in Pakistan and in Afghanistan so the world needs to come together to deal with this threat in north Africa."

 

Algerian officials previously said 32 militants had been killed, ahead of reports that five hostage-takers were captured at the gas plant at In Amenas on Sunday.

 

Algerian officials said the hostage-takers - from six different nationalities - belonged to a new Islamist group formed by a veteran Algerian militant and kidnapper, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, who recently broke from al-Qaeda.

 

Mauritanian website Sahara Media says he has claimed responsibility for the hostage-taking in a video message.

 

The video is said to have showed Belmokhtar claiming he was prepared to negotiate with Western and Algerian leaders if French military offensives against Islamists in neighbouring Mali were stopped.

 

 

The crisis began on Wednesday when militants attacked two buses carrying foreign workers and Algerians to the remote site in south-eastern Algeria. A Briton and an Algerian reportedly died at the scene.

 

The militants then took Algerians and foreign workers hostage at the complex, which was quickly surrounded by the Algerian army.

 

The nationalities of some of the hostages killed are still not known, but as well as the Britons, US, Norwegian, and Japanese nationals are also missing.

 

State news agency APS said 685 Algerian workers and 107 out of 132 foreigners working at the plant had been freed.

 

More on BBC News (including names of the British hostages)

 

 

 

I have read that also a sixth - 6th - hostage-taker has been arrested.

 

 

HOSTAGE-TAKERS HAD HELPERS INSIDE THE GAS PLANT BEFORE THEIR TERRORIST ACT WAS INITIATED

 

According to several sources, then the very well-organized and targeted/focussed terrorists were probably assisted by people inside the gas plant = by people employed by the gas plant as their attack on the gas plant in Algeria was initiated.

 

Local security sources say that Al Queda was assisted by people inside the gas plant. Up to 5 of the all-Queda-related islamists who carried out the most spectacular and bloody hostage situation in recent years were employed by the gas plant. The Telegraph reports that.

 

Source: Danish dr.dk/news at 11.35 central European time

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ALGERIA's GOVERNMENT: 37 FOREIGN HOSTAGES KILLED

 

37 foreign hostages were killed in Algeria, so Algeria's Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal says according to AFP. 1 Algerian killed.

 

They foreign killed hostages had 8 different nationalities.

 

As many as 68 people were killed in the bloody hostage drama.

 

32 of the hostage-takers were from MALI.

 

5 Norwegian hostages remain missing.

 

Source: dr.dk/news at 15:51 central European time

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Latest news on 22 January 2013:

 

The victims' bodies have been taken to the capital Alger for identification which might take some time. The work is conducted / led by Algerian authorities, but Norwegian criminal police is prepared to assist as 5 Norwegian hostages remain missing.

 

Sources: Swedish SVT text + Norwegian NRK News

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