LONDON — Algerian forces launched a final assault Saturday against Islamist militants holding foreign hostages at a desert energy complex, resulting in the deaths of 11 kidnappers and their seven remaining captives, according to Algerian and French news reports.
Reports of the raid — which unfolded despite calls for restraint from foreign governments, including the United States whose nationals were being held captive — remained sketchy and unverified, but state media said the operation targeted a remaining stronghold of militants at the sprawling, remote facility run by BP, Norway’s Statoil and Algeria’s state-run energy company. Reports from Algeria’s state news agency and France’s AFP, both quoting an unnamed Algerian security official, suggested the militants may have killed their hostages as forces approached.
(The Washington Post/The Washington Post)
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British Prime Minister David Cameron says Algerian forces are pursuing terrorists and possibly hostages, following an attack on a gas plant.
“The [army] assault took place mid-morning,” the AFP quoted the security official as saying. “Eleven terrorists lost their lives along with the foreign hostages. We think they were killed in retaliation” for the army attack.
Earlier reports suggested that the heavily armed militants were holding two Americans, three Belgians, a Japanese and a Briton in one section of the compound. Government forces were also still searching for smaller bands of militants and captives in the warren-like facility fitted with a complex network of potentially explosive gas pipes.
The United States, Japan and European nations had urged caution after an Algerian military rescue effort on Thursday left at least 12 hostages and 18 militants dead. An Algerian government spokesman told local reporters that the military was seeking a “peaceful solution” and was apparently in talks to free the remaining hostages.
“We have made offers of assistance. The Algerians have dealt with the situation themselves,” Britain’s Foreign Minister William Hague said Saturday. He added: “This has been and remains an Algerian operation, and our priority is the safety and the welfare of our nationals.”
Nearly 670 hostages have been freed or escaped since armed Islamist militants seized the facility on Wednesday, although roughly two dozen mostly foreign plant workers remain unaccounted for — including 6 Statoil employees. The situation “is still unresolved and there is limited access to the area,” Statoil said in a statement Saturday. “This is an unimaginable tragedy.”
In remarks on Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton avoided criticizing Algeria’s handling of the situation but made it clear that her priority now was careful negotiations, not a guns-blasting assault.
“The utmost care must be taken to preserve innocent life,” Clinton said.“When I spoke with the prime minister, I urged the utmost care be taken in the protection of the hostages, Algerian and expatriate foreign hostages.”
Survivors’ accounts
Survivors of one of the largest hostage crises in recent memory recounted harrowing tales of their ordeal Friday, as Algerian security forces attempted late in the day to negotiate an end to the standoff at a natural gas facility in the Sahara desert.
Reports of the raid — which unfolded despite calls for restraint from foreign governments, including the United States whose nationals were being held captive — remained sketchy and unverified, but state media said the operation targeted a remaining stronghold of militants at the sprawling, remote facility run by BP, Norway’s Statoil and Algeria’s state-run energy company. Reports from Algeria’s state news agency and France’s AFP, both quoting an unnamed Algerian security official, suggested the militants may have killed their hostages as forces approached.
(The Washington Post/The Washington Post)
Video
British Prime Minister David Cameron says Algerian forces are pursuing terrorists and possibly hostages, following an attack on a gas plant.
“The [army] assault took place mid-morning,” the AFP quoted the security official as saying. “Eleven terrorists lost their lives along with the foreign hostages. We think they were killed in retaliation” for the army attack.
Earlier reports suggested that the heavily armed militants were holding two Americans, three Belgians, a Japanese and a Briton in one section of the compound. Government forces were also still searching for smaller bands of militants and captives in the warren-like facility fitted with a complex network of potentially explosive gas pipes.
The United States, Japan and European nations had urged caution after an Algerian military rescue effort on Thursday left at least 12 hostages and 18 militants dead. An Algerian government spokesman told local reporters that the military was seeking a “peaceful solution” and was apparently in talks to free the remaining hostages.
“We have made offers of assistance. The Algerians have dealt with the situation themselves,” Britain’s Foreign Minister William Hague said Saturday. He added: “This has been and remains an Algerian operation, and our priority is the safety and the welfare of our nationals.”
Nearly 670 hostages have been freed or escaped since armed Islamist militants seized the facility on Wednesday, although roughly two dozen mostly foreign plant workers remain unaccounted for — including 6 Statoil employees. The situation “is still unresolved and there is limited access to the area,” Statoil said in a statement Saturday. “This is an unimaginable tragedy.”
In remarks on Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton avoided criticizing Algeria’s handling of the situation but made it clear that her priority now was careful negotiations, not a guns-blasting assault.
“The utmost care must be taken to preserve innocent life,” Clinton said.“When I spoke with the prime minister, I urged the utmost care be taken in the protection of the hostages, Algerian and expatriate foreign hostages.”
Survivors’ accounts
Survivors of one of the largest hostage crises in recent memory recounted harrowing tales of their ordeal Friday, as Algerian security forces attempted late in the day to negotiate an end to the standoff at a natural gas facility in the Sahara desert.