50 die in Algeria forces' rescue bid, say militants
Source: Agencies |
January 18, 2013, Friday
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Algerian forces raided a remote Sahara gas plant yesterday in an attempt to free dozens of foreign hostages held by militants with ties to Mali's rebels, diplomats said.
Islamic militants claimed that 35 hostages and 15 militants were killed after Algerian military helicopters strafed the area but said seven hostages survived.
Islamists with the Masked Brigade, who have been speaking through a Mauritanian news outlet, said the Algerians opened fire as the militants tried to leave the vast Ain Amenas energy complex with their hostages a day after seizing the installation deep in the desert.
Algerian forces had surrounded the complex in a tense standoff since the plant was seized early on Wednesday and had vowed not to negotiate with the kidnappers, who reportedly were seeking safe passage.
President Barack Obama's government offered military assistance to help rescue the hostages, but the Algerian government refused it, a US official said in Washington.
Information about the 41 foreign hostages the militants claimed to have - including seven Americans - was scarce and conflicting.
All were reportedly workers at the remote plant.
The spokesman for the Masked Brigade said yesterday that the surviving hostages included three Belgians, two Americans, a Briton and a Japanese citizen.
The information from the militants came from the Nouakchott Information Agency, which has often carried reports from al-Qaida-linked extremist groups in North Africa.
Ireland said an Irish hostage had made contact with his family and was safe and free.
Algeria's national news service, however, said four hostages were freed during the military operation, citing a local law enforcement source. An Algerian security official had said earlier that 20 foreign hostages had escaped before the raid.
The Norwegian energy company Statoil had said 12 of its employees had been captured by the militants - nine Norwegians and three locals - while Japanese media reported at least three Japanese among the hostages and Malaysia confirmed two.
Japanese and British authorities, as well as BP - which jointly operates the complex with other energy companies - said they had been told by the Algerians there was an ongoing operation to free the hostages yesterday.
Algerian state radio reported earlier in the day that 30 local workers managed to escape from the plant, but hundreds of Algerian workers had already been released on Wednesday by the hostage-takers.
The kidnapping is one of the largest so far attempted by a militant group in North Africa, and the militants phoned a Mauritanian news outlet to demand that France end its military intervention in neighboring Mali to ensure the safety of the hostages.
After the initial militant attack, Algerian troops surrounded the isolated gas plant, 1,300 kilometers south of the capital of Algiers.
Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould dismissed theories that the militants had come from Libya, 100 kilometers away, or from Mali, more than 1,000 kilometers away.
He said the roughly 20 well-armed gunmen were from Algeria itself, operating under orders from Moktar Belmoktar, al-Qaida's strongman in the Sahara.
Yves Bonnet, the former head of France's spy service, also dismissed the idea the operation was specifically linked to the French action in Mali due to the amount of organization it involved.
"It was an operation conceived well in advance - spectacular and needing a lot of preparation ... It was not at all an improvised operation," he told Europe 1 radio. "The operation was probably already scheduled and simply getting all those people into the desert would take several days."
Islamic militants claimed that 35 hostages and 15 militants were killed after Algerian military helicopters strafed the area but said seven hostages survived.
Islamists with the Masked Brigade, who have been speaking through a Mauritanian news outlet, said the Algerians opened fire as the militants tried to leave the vast Ain Amenas energy complex with their hostages a day after seizing the installation deep in the desert.
Algerian forces had surrounded the complex in a tense standoff since the plant was seized early on Wednesday and had vowed not to negotiate with the kidnappers, who reportedly were seeking safe passage.
President Barack Obama's government offered military assistance to help rescue the hostages, but the Algerian government refused it, a US official said in Washington.
Information about the 41 foreign hostages the militants claimed to have - including seven Americans - was scarce and conflicting.
All were reportedly workers at the remote plant.
The spokesman for the Masked Brigade said yesterday that the surviving hostages included three Belgians, two Americans, a Briton and a Japanese citizen.
The information from the militants came from the Nouakchott Information Agency, which has often carried reports from al-Qaida-linked extremist groups in North Africa.
Ireland said an Irish hostage had made contact with his family and was safe and free.
Algeria's national news service, however, said four hostages were freed during the military operation, citing a local law enforcement source. An Algerian security official had said earlier that 20 foreign hostages had escaped before the raid.
The Norwegian energy company Statoil had said 12 of its employees had been captured by the militants - nine Norwegians and three locals - while Japanese media reported at least three Japanese among the hostages and Malaysia confirmed two.
Japanese and British authorities, as well as BP - which jointly operates the complex with other energy companies - said they had been told by the Algerians there was an ongoing operation to free the hostages yesterday.
Algerian state radio reported earlier in the day that 30 local workers managed to escape from the plant, but hundreds of Algerian workers had already been released on Wednesday by the hostage-takers.
The kidnapping is one of the largest so far attempted by a militant group in North Africa, and the militants phoned a Mauritanian news outlet to demand that France end its military intervention in neighboring Mali to ensure the safety of the hostages.
After the initial militant attack, Algerian troops surrounded the isolated gas plant, 1,300 kilometers south of the capital of Algiers.
Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould dismissed theories that the militants had come from Libya, 100 kilometers away, or from Mali, more than 1,000 kilometers away.
He said the roughly 20 well-armed gunmen were from Algeria itself, operating under orders from Moktar Belmoktar, al-Qaida's strongman in the Sahara.
Yves Bonnet, the former head of France's spy service, also dismissed the idea the operation was specifically linked to the French action in Mali due to the amount of organization it involved.
"It was an operation conceived well in advance - spectacular and needing a lot of preparation ... It was not at all an improvised operation," he told Europe 1 radio. "The operation was probably already scheduled and simply getting all those people into the desert would take several days."
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