jimnyc
01-17-2013, 03:14 PM
Has anyone been watching this unfold? There are 7 Americans that were part of the hostages, and after all that has happened it's unsure at this point if they are alive.
Algeria government says had to storm plant, action continues
(Reuters) - Algeria's government spokesman confirmed some hostages were killed in a continuing military operation at a desert gas plant on Thursday but said troops had been forced to act to free them due to the "diehard" attitude of their captors.
In the first official comments by the government on the day's events, Communication Minister Mohamed Said was quoted as telling state news agency APS that many militants had been killed and that efforts to free foreign hostages were going on.
He acknowledged there had been "several deaths and injuries" among the hostages, but insisted Algeria, which fought a bloody war against Islamists through the 1990s, would not negotiate.
"We say that in the face of terrorism, yesterday as today as tomorrow, there will be no negotiation, no blackmail, no respite in the struggle against terrorism," APS quoted Said as saying.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/17/us-sahara-crisis-idUSBRE90F1JJ20130117
'Al-Qaeda have got me': Trapped oil worker's desperate phone call to family from Algerian gas siege where '35 hostages were killed'
An oil worker held hostage at an Algerian gas plant made a desperate 'last phone call' to tell his family he had been captured by al-Qaeda hours before a botched rescue attempt killed up to 35 foreigners.
Stephen McFaul, who later escaped, barricaded himself into a room with dozens of others as armed militants stormed their compound in the remote African desert.
Islamic extremists had launched an attack on BP’s Saharan oil field in revenge for France's crackdown on rebels in neighbouring Mali. Algeria is providing support and so became a target.
As the terrorists closed in, the 36-year-old father made what he feared may be his final call his family to say 'al-Qaeda have got me', his brother revealed today.
Mr McFaul’s family told how he managed to escape alive - but up to 35 others are feared dead after Algerian forces launched a bloody air strike on the plant to 'rescue' the workers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263785/Algerian-hostage-crisis-35-killed-helicopter-attack-BP-gas-plant-siege-2-Brits-feared-dead.html
Militants Grab U.S. Hostages
Militants with possible links to al Qaeda seized about 40 foreign hostages, including several Americans, at a natural-gas field in Algeria, posing a new level of threat to nations trying to blunt the growing influence of Islamist extremists in Africa.
As security officials in the U.S. and Europe assessed options to reach the captives from distant bases, Algerian security forces failed in an attempt late Wednesday to storm the facility.
A French effort to drive Islamist militants from neighboring Mali that began with airstrikes last week expanded on Wednesday with the first sustained fighting on the ground. France's top target, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, claimed responsibility for the Algeria kidnappings, calling it retaliation. The claim couldn't be verified, although AQIM has its origins in Algeria and operates across a swath of Africa.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. would take "necessary and proper steps" in the hostage situation, and didn't rule out military action. He said the Algeria attack could represent a spillover from Mali.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323468604578245310036330882.html?m od=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
And some more reading:
http://www.france24.com/en/20130117-french-hostage-algeria-gas-plant-testimony-france24-exclusive
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/17/260924.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/americans-held-hostage-al-qaeda-algeria/story?id=18229633
Algeria government says had to storm plant, action continues
(Reuters) - Algeria's government spokesman confirmed some hostages were killed in a continuing military operation at a desert gas plant on Thursday but said troops had been forced to act to free them due to the "diehard" attitude of their captors.
In the first official comments by the government on the day's events, Communication Minister Mohamed Said was quoted as telling state news agency APS that many militants had been killed and that efforts to free foreign hostages were going on.
He acknowledged there had been "several deaths and injuries" among the hostages, but insisted Algeria, which fought a bloody war against Islamists through the 1990s, would not negotiate.
"We say that in the face of terrorism, yesterday as today as tomorrow, there will be no negotiation, no blackmail, no respite in the struggle against terrorism," APS quoted Said as saying.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/17/us-sahara-crisis-idUSBRE90F1JJ20130117
'Al-Qaeda have got me': Trapped oil worker's desperate phone call to family from Algerian gas siege where '35 hostages were killed'
An oil worker held hostage at an Algerian gas plant made a desperate 'last phone call' to tell his family he had been captured by al-Qaeda hours before a botched rescue attempt killed up to 35 foreigners.
Stephen McFaul, who later escaped, barricaded himself into a room with dozens of others as armed militants stormed their compound in the remote African desert.
Islamic extremists had launched an attack on BP’s Saharan oil field in revenge for France's crackdown on rebels in neighbouring Mali. Algeria is providing support and so became a target.
As the terrorists closed in, the 36-year-old father made what he feared may be his final call his family to say 'al-Qaeda have got me', his brother revealed today.
Mr McFaul’s family told how he managed to escape alive - but up to 35 others are feared dead after Algerian forces launched a bloody air strike on the plant to 'rescue' the workers.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2263785/Algerian-hostage-crisis-35-killed-helicopter-attack-BP-gas-plant-siege-2-Brits-feared-dead.html
Militants Grab U.S. Hostages
Militants with possible links to al Qaeda seized about 40 foreign hostages, including several Americans, at a natural-gas field in Algeria, posing a new level of threat to nations trying to blunt the growing influence of Islamist extremists in Africa.
As security officials in the U.S. and Europe assessed options to reach the captives from distant bases, Algerian security forces failed in an attempt late Wednesday to storm the facility.
A French effort to drive Islamist militants from neighboring Mali that began with airstrikes last week expanded on Wednesday with the first sustained fighting on the ground. France's top target, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, claimed responsibility for the Algeria kidnappings, calling it retaliation. The claim couldn't be verified, although AQIM has its origins in Algeria and operates across a swath of Africa.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. would take "necessary and proper steps" in the hostage situation, and didn't rule out military action. He said the Algeria attack could represent a spillover from Mali.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323468604578245310036330882.html?m od=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
And some more reading:
http://www.france24.com/en/20130117-french-hostage-algeria-gas-plant-testimony-france24-exclusive
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/17/260924.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/americans-held-hostage-al-qaeda-algeria/story?id=18229633