Algeria - Qaeda Linked Militant Groups Abduct 41, Including Americans
https://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2013/01/algeria-qaeda-linked-militant-groups.html
Two foreign nationals, one of them British, have been killed and several taken hostage in an attack by Islamist militants on a gas facility in eastern Algeria, state media report.
Several people were wounded when a bus carrying workers from the facility, near In Amenas, was targeted.
After being repelled, the militants travelled to a residential area, taking an unknown number of workers hostage.
Militants linked to al-Qaeda claim to have been behind the incident.
They initially said they were holding six people hostage. But an alleged spokesman later told two Mauritanian news websites they were holding 41 foreigners, including US, French, British and Japanese citizens.
The Norwegian public broadcaster NRK quoted the oil company Statoil as saying there had been 17 personnel in total at the gas facility when it was taken over by the militants, 13 of whom were Norwegian nationals.
The In Amenas gas field is operated by the Algerian state oil company, Sonatrach, along with Statoil and the British oil company BP. It is about 1,300km (800 miles) south-east of the capital, Algiers, and about 60km west of the Libyan border.
The attack came after militants vowed to avenge France's military intervention in Mali, where its forces have been battling Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) for the past week. Algeria has been allowing French aircraft to use its air space.
After being repelled, the militants travelled to a residential area, taking an unknown number of workers hostage.
Militants linked to al-Qaeda claim to have been behind the incident.
They initially said they were holding six people hostage. But an alleged spokesman later told two Mauritanian news websites they were holding 41 foreigners, including US, French, British and Japanese citizens.
The Norwegian public broadcaster NRK quoted the oil company Statoil as saying there had been 17 personnel in total at the gas facility when it was taken over by the militants, 13 of whom were Norwegian nationals.
The In Amenas gas field is operated by the Algerian state oil company, Sonatrach, along with Statoil and the British oil company BP. It is about 1,300km (800 miles) south-east of the capital, Algiers, and about 60km west of the Libyan border.
The attack came after militants vowed to avenge France's military intervention in Mali, where its forces have been battling Islamists linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) for the past week. Algeria has been allowing French aircraft to use its air space.
