Published: January 19, 2013 9:33 PM
By PAUL SCHEMM AND KARIM KEBIR. The Associated Press
ALGIERS, Algeria -- In a bloody, tragic finale, Algerian special forces stormed a natural gas complex in the Sahara desert Saturday to end a standoff with Islamist extremists that left at least 23 hostages dead and killed all 32 militants involved, the Algerian government said.
It was unclear whether anyone was rescued in the final operation, but the number of hostages killed Saturday -- seven -- was how many the militants had said they still had.
One American -- Frederick Buttaccio from Katy, Texas -- is among the known dead.
Over four tense days, radical Islamists linked to al-Qaida held the Ain Amenas complex, which contained hundreds of plant workers from all over the world. The siege was punctuated by gun battles between the terrorists and the Algerian military and by dramatic escapes.
Late Saturday, President Barack Obama said in a statement that the blame lay with the terrorists.
"This attack is another reminder of the threat posed by al-Qaida and other violent extremist groups in North Africa," Obama said. "In the coming days, we will remain in close touch with the government of Algeria to gain a fuller understanding of what took place so that we can work together to prevent tragedies like this in the future."
French President Francois Hollande said the hostages were "shamefully murdered" by their captors, and said the episode lends further justification to France's military operation against al-Qaida-backed rebels in neighboring Mali.
In the final assault, the remaining band of militants killed the hostages before 11 of them were in turn cut down by the special forces, Algeria's state news agency said. The military launched its final assault to prevent a fire started by the extremists from engulfing the complex and blowing it up, the report added.
A total of 685 Algerian and 107 foreign workers were freed over the course of the standoff, the ministry statement said, adding that the group of militants that attacked the remote Saharan natural gas complex consisted of 32 men of various nationalities.
Ruben Andrada, 49, a Filipino civil engineer who works as one of the project management staff for the Japanese company JGC Corp., said he and his colleagues were used as human shields by the kidnappers, which did little to deter the Algerian military.
On Thursday, about 35 hostages were loaded into seven SUVs to move them from the housing complex to the refinery, Andrada said. The militants placed "an explosive cord" around their necks and they were told it would detonate if they tried to run, he said.
"When we left the compound, there was shooting all around," Andrada said, as Algerian helicopters attacked with guns and missiles. "I closed my eyes. We were going around in the desert. To me, I left it all to fate." Andrada's vehicle overturned, allowing him and a few others to escape.
An Algerian who asked not to be identified said he was hiding when he heard the militants speaking among themselves. At one point, he said, they caught 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,' " the Algerian said. "A few minutes later, they blew him away."
[h=4]Deadly standoffs[/h]The bloodshed at the Algeria gas plant ranks among the worst cases of hostage deaths in crises involving terrorists and extremists since the 1970s. Some others:
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1972: Eleven members of Israel's Olympic team were killed after being taken hostage by Palestinian gunmen at the Munich Games. Two hostages were killed as the Palestinian Black September group raided the Olympic Village; the remaining nine died amid a botched rescue attempt by German police.
MOSCOW, 2002: Russian counterterrorism forces stormed a theater where Chechen guerrillas were holding hundreds of people hostage. About 130 of the hostages were killed. Families say many of the victims died from a knockout gas pumped into the building before it was stormed. Russian officials have never accepted responsibility for the deaths.
BESLAN, RUSSIA, 2004: A hostage standoff in the southern Russian town of Beslan ended in a bloodbath as Russian commandos stormed a school seized by Chechen militants. More than 330 people were killed, about half of them children.
-- AP
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By PAUL SCHEMM AND KARIM KEBIR. The Associated Press
ALGIERS, Algeria -- In a bloody, tragic finale, Algerian special forces stormed a natural gas complex in the Sahara desert Saturday to end a standoff with Islamist extremists that left at least 23 hostages dead and killed all 32 militants involved, the Algerian government said.
It was unclear whether anyone was rescued in the final operation, but the number of hostages killed Saturday -- seven -- was how many the militants had said they still had.
One American -- Frederick Buttaccio from Katy, Texas -- is among the known dead.
Over four tense days, radical Islamists linked to al-Qaida held the Ain Amenas complex, which contained hundreds of plant workers from all over the world. The siege was punctuated by gun battles between the terrorists and the Algerian military and by dramatic escapes.
Late Saturday, President Barack Obama said in a statement that the blame lay with the terrorists.
"This attack is another reminder of the threat posed by al-Qaida and other violent extremist groups in North Africa," Obama said. "In the coming days, we will remain in close touch with the government of Algeria to gain a fuller understanding of what took place so that we can work together to prevent tragedies like this in the future."
French President Francois Hollande said the hostages were "shamefully murdered" by their captors, and said the episode lends further justification to France's military operation against al-Qaida-backed rebels in neighboring Mali.
In the final assault, the remaining band of militants killed the hostages before 11 of them were in turn cut down by the special forces, Algeria's state news agency said. The military launched its final assault to prevent a fire started by the extremists from engulfing the complex and blowing it up, the report added.
A total of 685 Algerian and 107 foreign workers were freed over the course of the standoff, the ministry statement said, adding that the group of militants that attacked the remote Saharan natural gas complex consisted of 32 men of various nationalities.
Ruben Andrada, 49, a Filipino civil engineer who works as one of the project management staff for the Japanese company JGC Corp., said he and his colleagues were used as human shields by the kidnappers, which did little to deter the Algerian military.
On Thursday, about 35 hostages were loaded into seven SUVs to move them from the housing complex to the refinery, Andrada said. The militants placed "an explosive cord" around their necks and they were told it would detonate if they tried to run, he said.
"When we left the compound, there was shooting all around," Andrada said, as Algerian helicopters attacked with guns and missiles. "I closed my eyes. We were going around in the desert. To me, I left it all to fate." Andrada's vehicle overturned, allowing him and a few others to escape.
An Algerian who asked not to be identified said he was hiding when he heard the militants speaking among themselves. At one point, he said, they caught 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,' " the Algerian said. "A few minutes later, they blew him away."
[h=4]Deadly standoffs[/h]The bloodshed at the Algeria gas plant ranks among the worst cases of hostage deaths in crises involving terrorists and extremists since the 1970s. Some others:
MUNICH, WEST GERMANY, 1972: Eleven members of Israel's Olympic team were killed after being taken hostage by Palestinian gunmen at the Munich Games. Two hostages were killed as the Palestinian Black September group raided the Olympic Village; the remaining nine died amid a botched rescue attempt by German police.
MOSCOW, 2002: Russian counterterrorism forces stormed a theater where Chechen guerrillas were holding hundreds of people hostage. About 130 of the hostages were killed. Families say many of the victims died from a knockout gas pumped into the building before it was stormed. Russian officials have never accepted responsibility for the deaths.
BESLAN, RUSSIA, 2004: A hostage standoff in the southern Russian town of Beslan ended in a bloodbath as Russian commandos stormed a school seized by Chechen militants. More than 330 people were killed, about half of them children.
-- AP
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