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Subscribe to RSSMilitants who attacked a natural gas facility in eastern Algeria took as many as 40 people hostage, including three Americans as retaliation for France's intervention in neighboring Mali. NBC's Rohit Kachroo reports.
Three Americans were among dozens of foreign nationals kidnapped by heavily armed militants who attacked a gas field in Algeria on Wednesday, U.S. officials said.
A militant group claimed the raid was launched in retaliation for France's military intervention in neighboring Mali, Reuters reported, citing local media.
The hostage situation, described as a "terrorist attack" by State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, was unfolding at a gas operation at In Amenas — a joint venture including oil giant BP, the Norwegian oil firm Statoil and the Algerian state company Sonatrach.
BP said in a statement that the site was "attacked and occupied by a group of unidentified armed people."
Reuters said that according to regional media reports, the raiders killed three people, including a Briton and a French national, but there was no way to confirm the account. Reuters did not report the citizenship of the third person.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates across borders in the Sahara desert, claimed it had captured the workers in retaliation for France's intervention in Mali, Reuters reported, citing regional news agencies.
France has been using Algeria's air space for attacks against al-Qaida linked militants in Mali since last week.
Western government officials had not yet linked Wednesday's attack to the conflict in Algeria's southern neighbor. Algeria and neighboring Mali are former colonies of France.
"The Algerian authorities will not respond to the demands of the terrorists and will not negotiate,'' Interior Minister Daho Ould Kablia was quoted as saying by Algeria's official APS news agency.
One of the kidnappers, reportedly contacted by Mauritania's news agency ANI, warned that any attempt to free the hostages would come to a "tragic end." The militants had placed mines around the site of the kidnapping, according to that unconfirmed report.
The U.S. government is in contact with Algerian authorities, the British Embassy in Algiers, BP's security office in London and the Diplomatic Security office in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a briefing on Wednesday.
French President Francois Hollande said he was also in contact with Algiers and other governments about the attack.
A picture of who was being held hostage — with various reports that the total number was 41 — remains incomplete, but citizens of at least six countries are in the group.
There are three Americans in the group, a senior U.S. official told NBC. An earlier report had put the number at seven.
The State Department’s Nuland confirmed that Americans were among the hostages, but she would not release names, numbers and other details "in order to protect their safety."
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference that 13 Norwegian citizens were among the hostages. Three Algerian Statoil employees and one Canadian were in the hostage group, the company said. Statoil is a minority shareholder in the venture.
One Irish national was abducted, an Irish government official said, and British Prime Minister David Cameron said "several" British citizens were among the hostages.
A spokesman for the Japanese government said it had set up a task force to investigate reports of Japanese hostages.
A reporter for Japan's NHK television managed to call a Japanese worker in Algeria, Reuters reported. The worker said he got a phone call from a colleague at the gas field.
"It was around 6 a.m. this morning. He said that he had been hearing gunshots for about 20 minutes," the worker said. "I wasn't able to get through to him since."
The U.S. government issued an emergency message to Americans in the country through the embassy in Algiers, warning them to avoid large gatherings, protests or demonstrations.
"U.S. citizens should review their personal security plans, remain aware of their surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates," it read, in part. "Maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security and follow instructions of local authorities.
The Amenas gas field is about 800 miles southeast of Algiers and about 35 miles west of the Libyan border.
Oil major BP said it believed the operation had been shut down after the attack, which took place at about 5 a.m. local time. The company said the field had been producing about 160,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day — more than 10 percent of the country's overall gas output, Reuters reported.
Related content:
France launches tough ground offensive against Mali's Islamist rebels
Jim Miklaszewski, Courtney Kube, Ian Johnston, Arata Yamamoto and Alastair Jamieson of NBC News, and Reuters, contributed to this report.
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why do french soldiers have to patrol the streets of their own country??? if these idiots called muslims want to immigrate to a western country then just say no we dont want you here if it is only a handful of extremists casuing the problem then maybe all of the peaceful muslims can take care of their own until they realize that they cannot force their religion on other countries i say no more visas for any muslims if i am called a recist then so be it at least i would not have to worry about sharia law coming to my area soon
Islam is like a cancer on Africa.
We can not leave it untreated.
If one percent of the Muslim population of the Earth are "extremists", that's about 15,000,000 (fifteen million for you 'tards) "extremists". There are approximately 30 wars on the globe right now involving Muslims. "Handful of extremists" is one of the current big lies. Muslims kill more people every year than were killed in the 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition. We are funding the terrorists every time we put a gallon of gas in our cars.
Is there another YouTube video?
i remember when colorado passed the weed bill legalizing weed. obama was asked about that and he said "WE HAVE BIGGER FISH TO FRY".... i call it deflecting.
well this petition will force his hand and he will have to make a decision.
i have started a petition at the whitehouse. gov
the petition is to have the federal government to enforce its own bans on marijuana and illegal immigration.
please go there and sign it.
http://wh.gov/Esqw
lets take away their weed !!!!! and the illegals that bring it into our country !!!!!!
help me get this to obama's desk....copy and paste, repost, add to your facebook, twitter
You are a twit and a half. Who do you think has been doing the work all this time, the Federal Government.
I guess a twit and a half is better than being a half twit..DONT look in the mirror 6dogs
Well let's see what motor mouth liar Obama has to say? Seems Al-Quida is doing fine, and has not been decimated as Obama would like us to believe...just another one of his lies. When is this country going to get enough balls and start going after these Al-Quida groups in earnest? Oh! I forgot, these are Obama's brothers.
Ron,Al-Qaida will not be decimated as long as there are countries that play host to them.They just keep moving around the globe while the corrupt governments encourage them.
Ron you appearently aren't aware of how Bin Laden set up Al Qaeda in cells of 4. He took a publicy known Military tactic of 4 man squads that we ourselves use and put it to work for himself. See how well our inginuety works.
Wait just one minute, didn't Mr. Obama say during the elections that Al Qaida was seriously compromised and falling from regional power ??? What a Dirty, lying Bastard !!!
So hasn't the CIA and other groupes. We got a lot of the known leaders from 911 but the cells that Bin Ladin that are located all around the world are doing their job of recruiting and forming 4 man cells to carry on. One thing I curious about is where the heck are they getting their money from to carry on with? I don't want to hear it's the poppies from Afghanistan.
Americans know the dangers of working abroad.Algeria is another corrupt government who has no intention of securing their country against terrorists unless it is funded by the free world governments.
They should have run for the consulate building and once inside they would have been SAFE!!!
I'm ashamed of myself, I actually thought Algeria got swallowed up in some revolution or something years ago. Now I know.
Obama's Arab Spring is starting to sprout flowers. We can expect a whole garden full within the next 4 years. Our foreign policies are next to none. Thank goodness we have Hillary and her "head in the sand" approach to these problems.
Hillary retired find someone else to pick on.
Hillary aint gone yet..She's STILL fair game..I predicted last Oct. that Hillary would NEVER testify on Benghazi and I'll stick to that prediction..Anyone want to bet on it??
I expect Hillary will someday submit a written statement on Benghazi and will not stand in front of Congress.
Oh yeah, forgot, send in the Marines, give them autonomy to handle it as an excercise, keep all the other bozo's out of it. One carrier, one Marine division, gloves off, you'll have a quick clean kill with few civilians casualties.
Come on 'bama, roll the tide on their monkey lickin butts
Don't worry, Chuck Todd will save Obama and Hillary ....... as for everyone else, well.
Well if Benghazi is ANY indication of what will happen..Good luck you three..Nice knowing you..I hope you either can tunnel to safety on your own or hope you have your life insurance policy in force cause we ain't coming after you..That would offend our muslim towelheads and we sure as HELL cant do that!!!
Maybe we can send in the FBI and investigate to see what we have to do to hold those responsible for kidnapping these three Americans and bring them to justice, right like we did to those perpetrators in Benghazi..
Islam its poisonous book----they rape--like they did Amb. Chris Christinson----and then suffocated him slowly-----sometime they rape with a stick---the Muslim way
Lets send seal team 6 to save them and make another movie.
huh??? wonder what kind of gun laws they have there??? and who do you suppose these idiots got their weapons from???i wonder if they are registered and legal????
None....Dont know....No
They got their weapons from islamist in Libya who we put in power.
Bet they wish they had some guns.
Wouldnt do them no good..Biden would recomend that they be confiscated
Obama probably took away their "assault" weapons and left them vulnerable..you know...like Benghazi...New York....
Like the book, you'll love the movie ..Benghazi II coming soon...
Simple solution. You kidnap Americans, we pick a village, town, or city and eliminate it and its total population. Muslims are happy for all the martyrs and the world is happy for fewer Muslims - win, win.
Or you attempt a rescue mission and carpet bomb their front lines.
American citizens in Algeria cannot enhance their security because they are not allowed to own GUNS. All they can do is hide and hope they aren't next to be chosen.
Send in a couple of gunships and fighter planes to support a French rescue attempt. Don't let them hold them for an extended time. Strike fast.
I'm assuming The French have the most troops ready to move.
Japan has citizens in danger, I would love to see a squadron of Ninjas slip in when it gets dark. It would make a great action movie.
Sounds like a job for Seal Team 6
To start with, unless it's Military......Americans have no business being in third-world countries! I pray for their families that get get out of their safely. I really have no feelings for people that choose to be somewhere they're not wanted to start with. I guess they were hiking in the mountains (like we don't have anywhere to hike or sight see here).
And, what are you going to put in your car's gas tank if those people aren't there?
Muslims, as predictable as an old broken record. We retaliate because: pick your reason. Today it's this, tomorrow it's that, next week it's something else. Always the perpetual knee jerk victims/perps of the world. Always, the pathetic, constant, dark comedy in bloody rags. It's always somebody else's fault ... the little school girls made us throw acid on them/shoot them in the head. Islam, the "religion" of pathetic, brain dead losers.
Islam is poison.
Algeria should be held responsible. Neither the US, nor BP or the Danes should be blamed. The hostages were taken on the Algerian Territory as they worked for Algeria and its oil industry. What I can not understand why Algeria is NOT securing all the Gas and Petro fields where they employ 1,000 s of foreigners working for Sonatrach. Militarily Algeria has 500,000 soldiers, plus 600 Most sophisticated MIGs ( received last year) 6,000 Tanks and a host of other equipment. The Algerian system is corrupt, whereby the Army controls every facet of life and their only interest is plunder as much as they can. Let s not forget Algeria has been battling an Islamist movement since the mid 80 including Droudkel and Co. and innocent Algerians are being killed every day of the week. The Algerian Pres. Bouteflika ( a high school drop out) is a puppet to the generals and I will not be surprised if he will not be deposed same as Moubarak. I have visited Algeria ( for business) several times and I had to hire body guards for my safety. So, please folks do not go on blaming Obama, The Brits or the Danes. The responsibility fall squarely on the Algerians and we should hold their feet to the fire to secure the safe release of the hostages.
I see that the right wingers are calling for an attack. I am sure by tonight Hannity will be calling Obama weak for not going to war against Algeria this afternoon. You people want to invade every country on the planet but not have a draft so your kids don't have to go and never raise taxes to pay for all those wars.
I say pass a Constitutional amendment that says any time we invade a country there will be a draft with no college deferments and a tax increase across the board including corporations to pay for the war. I suggest that no person may serve in public office unless they have served a minimum of 2 years in the military, and the National Guard doesn't count towards it.
offtheoil,
I like your thinking. I would support this!
Oh joy more kidnapping murder and mayham. Chimps show more cooperation than humans.