Americans Among Hostages Seized By Militants In Algeria
Militants seized Wednesday dozens of hostages, including Americans, in a deadly raid on an Algerian gas facility.
"The best information we have at this time is that U.S. citizens are among the hostages," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington.
She did not say how many Americans there were, but the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack said there were 41 foreign hostages, including seven Americans. Two people – a Briton and an Algerian — were killed in the raid on the In Amenas gas field, some 1,300 miles from the Algerian capital, Algiers, and near the country's border with Libya. A Norwegian and two other Britons were among the wounded, news reports say.
Katibat Moulathamine (Masked Brigade), the group that claimed responsibility for the attacks, told a Mauritanian news agency that the raid was in response to Algeria's support of France's military operation in neighboring Mali.
Algerian Interior Minister Daho Ould Kabila said the militants want to leave the country with the hostages. Kabila rules that out, adding his country won't negotiate with the gunmen. Speaking on national television, he put the number of hostages at 20. He said the gunmen were from Algeria and were taking orders from Moktar Belmoktar, a militant with links to al-Qaida.
Here's more from the BBC:
"At a news conference on Wednesday evening, Mr Kabila said a heavily armed "terrorist group" using three vehicles had attacked a bus carrying workers from In Amenas at about 05:00 (04:00 GMT).
"The attackers was repelled by police who had been escorting the bus, but a Briton and an Algerian national had been killed, he said. Two other British nationals, a Norwegian, two police officers and a security guard were also hurt in the firefight, he added.
"Afterwards, the militants drove to the gas facility's living quarters and took a number of Algerian and foreign workers hostage. They were being held in one wing of the living quarters, which the security services and army had now surrounded, Mr Kabila said."