Algeria siege: 37 foreigners died

Abdulmalek Sellal

Algeria's Prime Minister has said 37 foreigners of eight nationalities and one Algerian worker were killed during the hostage crisis at a gas plant. PM Abdelmalek Sellal said 29 of the militants who overran the facility near the desert town of In Amenas had been killed and three captured alive. The militants included 11 Tunisians, two Canadians, and others, he said.

The four-day siege ended at the weekend when Algerian troops recaptured the site. Five hostages are still missing. Japan on Monday said seven of its nationals had been killed and three others remained missing. US officials confirmed that three Americans were among the dead, with seven survivors.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said thee Britons had been killed, with three others missing and presumed dead. He said the hostage crisis highlighted the need for a "strong security response" matched by an "intelligent political response". The foreigners killed or still missing also include workers from France, Norway, Malaysia, the Philippines and Romania.

Planning

Mr Sellal praised the decision by Algerian special forces to storm the site, adding that the aim of the kidnappers was to "blow up the gas plant".

"The terrorists also shot some of the hostages in the head, killing them," he stressed.

The prime minister said the kidnappers had crossed into the country from northern Mali, and that they were from Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Mali, Niger, Canada and Mauritania. The militants said they had taken hostages in retaliation for French intervention against Islamists in Mali earlier this month.

However Mr Sellal said the attack on the gas plant had been planned for more than two months.

Algerian police say it was organised by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a militant leader who recently fell out with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which originated in Algeria but now operates throughout the Sahara and Sahel regions.

The crisis began on Wednesday when militants attacked two buses carrying foreign workers to the remote site in eastern Algeria. A Briton and an Algerian died in the incident. The militants then took expatriates hostage at the complex, which was quickly surrounded by the Algerian army.

Algerian state media said later that 685 Algerian workers at the plant had escaped, with reports that militants told them they were only targeting non-Muslims.

Terrorists Taunt France After Failed Rescue Mission

Al Qaeda-linked terrorists in Africa today posted gruesome pictures of a man they said was a French commando killed in a failed operation to rescue a French intelligence agent overnight Friday.

The pictures, released via Twitter by the Somalia-based terror group al-Shabaab, show a white male in a dark blue shirt and camouflage pants surrounded by military gear and weapons. The shirt is covered in blood and the man appears to be dead. As a caption for one photo that shows the man's crucifix necklace, al-Shabaab tweeted, "A return of the crusades, but the cross could not save him from the sword."

In another tweet, al-Shabaab showed a picture of the man and addressed the French president directly: "Francois Hollande, was it worth it?"

The raid was meant to free "Denis Allex," the pseudonym of an agent of the French foreign intelligence service DGSE who was kidnapped in Somalia in July 2009.

Late Saturday, Hollande acknowledged that two French soldiers had been killed in the operation and that it was likely that Allex was executed by his captors. Hollande offered his condolences to the families of the dead but said the operation "confirms France's determination not to give in to the blackmail of terrorists."

Today al-Shabaab put out a press release claiming it had killed "several" French commandoes, but that Allex was still alive. The group said it had "reached a verdict" on what to do with him and would announce it in coming hours.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday that the raiding party slipped secretly into the area but was met with "very strong resistance" on the ground and "very violent combat ensued." In addition to the French casualties, Le Drian said 17 terrorists were killed.

President Obama revealed Sunday that U.S. military forces had been involved in the mission, providing "limited technical support." Obama was required to notify Congress of the action, since it amounted to a deployment of U.S. military personnel, and released the notification letter to the public. U.S. aircraft "briefly entered Somali airspace to support the rescue operation, if needed," but did not use their weapons, the letter said.

Al-Shabaab formally allied itself with al Qaeda in February 2012, but that didn't stop African forces from handing the terror group a series of military defeats in Somalia, eventually pushing them out of all major urban areas in the East African nation.