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Subscribe to RSSAfter the death of Western workers in an attack on a gas plant in the Sahara, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta vows to hunt down the militants responsible. NBC News' Annabel Roberts reports.
Twenty-three hostages and 32 militants were killed in the attack on a natural gas plant deep in the Sahara, the Algerian interior ministry said on Saturday, according to news services.
The official also said 107 foreign hostages and 685 Algerian hostages had been released, several news outlets reported.
Earlier, British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said, speaking on information received by the British government, that the hostage crisis had "been brought to an end."
The militants took over the In Amenas plant on Wednesday, but Algeria's military launched a rescue attempt on Thursday.
The Algerian Press Service reported that a during a final attack by Algeria's military, the militants killed seven hostages, whose nationalities were not revealed. All of the remaining militants were reported killed.
At a joint press conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Hammond described the loss of life as "appalling and unacceptable."
"We remain in close contact with the Algerian government," Hammond said. "We remain determined to defeat terrorism and stand with the Algerian government."
Hammond said that the latest Algerian military operation had resulted in further loss of life. "We are pressing the Algerians for details on the exact situation and the numbers that have been killed and, if any, the numbers rescued," he said.
The Associated Press reported that around 100 of the 135 foreign workers on the site had been freed by Friday. The U.S. government confirmed Friday that one of the dead hostages was Frederick Buttaccio from Texas.
The militants claimed Friday that they were holding two American hostages and would exchange them for two people being held in the United States — the blind sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, convicted in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and Aafie Siddiqque, a 40-year-old Pakistani neuroscientist and mother of three, who was convicted of attacking U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
That would appear to account for all five Americans thought to have been at the plant, one U.S. official said, if the militants are telling the truth.
In a statement Saturday, President Barack Obama said: "The blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out ... This attack is another reminder of the threat posed by al Qaeda and other violent extremist groups in North Africa."
In a news release Saturday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he feared for the lives of five British citizens who remained unaccounted for, Reuters reported.
Anis Belghoul / AP
Two British hostages -- Peter, left, and Alan, right (no family name available) -- are seen after being released, in a street near the gas plant where they were kidnapped by Islamic militants.
"One British citizen has already been killed in this brutal attack and we now fear the worst for the lives of five others who are not yet accounted for," Cameron said, according to Reuters.
British Petroleum said Saturday that four of its employees were among the hostages who remain missing.
In a conference call with reporters, Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said 14 of the 18 BP employees who were working at the site are “safe and secure” but four remain missing. Dudley said at this time he could not reveal the identities or nationalities of any of the employees. Dudley said the situation remains “very fluid and complex.”
Based on information from those hostages freed, Dudley said they suffered a “terrible and agonizing ordeal” and the situation inside the facility was “horrific.” Before “pre-judging” the actions taken by Algerian security Dudley said “we need he entire picture.”
The In Amenas plant, in a remote part of the Sahara Desert in eastern Algeria close to the Libyan border, is jointly run by BP, Norway's Statoil and Algeria's state-owned oil company.
The hostage standoff in Algeria is proving frustrating as both media and governments struggle for information. The Washington Post's Joby Warrick discusses the situation with MSNBC's Alex Witt.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related content:
- 1 American killed, 2 escape in Algeria hostage crisis, US officials say; militants seek to trade 2 others for blind sheik
- Details emerge in militant takeover, rescue operation at Algeria gas field
Leave a Comment:
The money may be great, and tax breaks, but if your american, DO NOT work in Algeria, or anywhere else where there are Ilamic extremeists, Obama hates old field trash, and anyone producing hydrocarbons, he will drone your ass.
Obama doesn't HATE oil field trash... But explain to me this, why do we give 54 BILLION in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry when they are making record profits?
They are not subsidies. They are tax breaks or incentives. You take your tax right offs don't you?
I do not understand the extent of criticism by the Algerian military. Many reports say the hostages had explosives strapped to their bodies. I would imagine that at the push of a button, they could all be dead. What could a military of any country, even the US, do to almost surely prevent that? Assuming that is the way they were killed.
Still, the Algerian military did lack communication and cooperation with the home countries of the foreign hostages. It almost as if they were acting like a little kid trying to prove to their older siblings "Look what I can do!"
Automatic immediate death penalty for any of their pals they want freed.
British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond calls it, "appalling and unacceptable"
Barry Soetoro would call it, "just bumps in the road"
Thoughts and prayers to all the families who were involved!!
Obama will release the blind Sheik to keep his buddies happy...just wait
Well that didn't go so well...
Probably should have waited for Seal Team 6.
This would not have happened if they had banned large capacity magazines and had required them to have a background check on all of the terrorists prior to them buying weapons and a 5 day wait. Perhaps they should have banned these models of assault weapons as well. This should solve the problem.
it the USA had done it we would dick around for two months ,Damn liberal b/s
Consider the fact that the terrorist stated they will kill every non-muslim hostage they hold. Then everyone that came out alive is more than what would have survived. If the Algerians had played by the terrorist time table or waited for other nations input. Since no one knows just when would they have begun to kill each hostage they promised they would.
Consider each day the terrorist are in control is a media plus for them. Making the idea of getting the worlds attention by such means that much more appealing to other terrorist. Others who will never be deterred by the swift acts of death the Algerians brought but will be inspired for each day they didn't. By terrorist standpoints there may not be enough gain from this hostage situation for the loss of lives traded for such short a time of attention.
Then consider it a good idea before you go to a foreign country, in known terrorist lands, to know their way of dealing with these types of situations, consider staying home.
Given the idea that the terrorist in charge, for the mere act of stubbing his toe, could kill all the non-muslim hostages in his anger. The Algerian special forces did what they know best to do knowing their foe as they do.
The only problem, and not with me, is that they did what they know best to do and did not allow any contact of any foreign government try to inject or meddle in their mission. And that is only a problem to the eggo of some officials who believe they should be in on every decision in the world.
Kudos to Algeria that this won't be a 300 day ordeal and media frenzy of terrorist inspirational ideas. With far to many chiefs trying to tell the Algerians what to do while never agreeing amongst each other. Giving the terrorist exactly what they are about, terror, with each day of talk and discussion of appeaseing each country in what action to take.
With the fear of death a terror to all the hostages every minute of their last 300 days. When the same actions are taken that day, as would have been the first day, only without having stroked the eggo's of those who think they should be in charge and in the loop, because they think they are the loop.
Condolences to all that suffered and to the families that lost loved ones.
Thank's to the Algerian forces for taking the terror out of this terrorist mission and for each terrorist they may have made think twice about the cost per gain of trying such a mission.
McCain, Graham and Collins are already at work to determine which Democrats are responsible for this outrage.
Our Muslim president obama's last words
“We achieved our central goal, which is — or have come very close to achieving our central goal — which is to de-capacitate al Qaeda, to dismantle them, to make sure that they can’t attack us again,” Obama said.
looks like he is wrong again, again and again
another racist hater in american disrespecting our president (who has done a far better job being president than bush including hunting down bin laden and feeding him to the sharks) rather have a decent black president than a crooked white president that nearly caused a great depression due to greed
@left careful what you say
I applaud the work of the Algerian commandos and their resolution of the crisis. There is no negotiating with Islamic swine so their intervention even though lives were lost, more were saved was the right move. Now throughout the region the hunt has to be on for every Islamic militant that can be found and no jail or trial, just a bullet in the head until all are exterminated.
Kudos to the Algerians, and all that supported them. Some on here seem to fault the Algerians for the deaths...it was the terrorists who got them killed...
Let's just blow up the whole world. Makes as much sense as some of these posts.
Obviously the Algerians sent in their elite commando strike team:
Seal team 86.
Coming to Detroitistan, soon!
more like NY where the elites are, sure isn't Detroit. Obama is a far better president than bush by a long shot, besides having to clean up bush mess of nearly driving the country to another great depression sucking up to greedy crooks, btw, who hunted down bin laden when bush failed to do so miserably, say it..........Obama
After the end of the ’81–’82 recession unemployment fell sharply as growth expanded dramatically. Twenty-seven months after the official end of that recession, unemployment had fallen to 7.5 percent from a peak of 10.8 percent.
At the same point after the recent recession, unemployment had fallen not 3.3 percentage points, but only 1.4 percentage points. The reason is not hard to find. In the seven quarters following the ’81–’82 recession, GDP growth averaged 7.1 percent (on an annual basis). In the current post-recession span it has averaged only 2.8 percent.
We need 2.5 percent growth just to absorb increases in the work force. The first quarter of 2011 had only a 1.8 percent increase in GDP.
But Reagan’s low-tax-rates, less-regulation, America-is-the-hope-of-the-world philosophy also differs sharply from Obama’s, in which taxing the rich, turning always to the government for answers, and America-causes-the-world’s-problems are cherished principles.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/04/29/reagan-recovery-vs-obama-recovery/
Let's send the Romney boys to clean up this mess. They haven't served in the military YET.
Yeah they can serve as long as Obama and Biden combined.
To find out why much of the world doesn't give a rat's ass what the Imperial USA thinks, go here:
www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html
And start reading at about 1953.
It is time to waste all that screw with us. The U.S. has become a nation of whimps. It is time to be strong and action speaks louder than words. The middle east is full of two face arabs. Billons have been stolen in tax payers monies by these governments. No more free ride, either you back us fully or we incinerate you.
the egret- are you a american hater or terrorist or both?
I KNEW IT
Even though the POTUS had nothing to do with it,
I knew I would find RIGHT WING NUT JOBS bring Obama into this story comment section
SADLY SO PREDICTABLE
OH yes, and BUSH ignored 54 murdered americans in 12 embassy attacks and SAID HE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT Osama Bin Laden. He destroyed terrorism in the whole world, and they these people just came back because OBAMA was elected right.
What an idiot left
Did I miss something here? Why is it that everyone on here is laying the blame for the hostage situation and the high loss of life in the take down at the feet of the U.S.? Was it not Algerian spec ops that took down the tangos? Isn't BP an English company, ( British Petroleum )? The U.S. may have had some intel input to the situation, but nowhere does it say American troops stacked on the door.
You would have thought that if the Brit operators, ( 22 SAS ) had trained the Algerians, there would have been less collateral damage. Same thing if the D-boys or SEAL 6 had trained them. I don't know, I must have just missed the part where the U.S. had boots on the ground in an active roll.
If anyone can point out my error in comprehension, please enlighten me.
No error, RLTW...apparently Russians trained the Algerians, and the Russian philosophy is to waste the terrorists regardless of collateral damage...so the Algerians were operating according to their own doctrine. What's amusing are the RWNJ's who somehow lay this tragedy at the feet of the President or members of his administration. I find their total disregard of facts and mind-bending circular conspiracy theories most entertaining, as well as deeply disturbing. They bear watching, and I'm sure that someone is. At they are utterly convinced of that, and for once (and only once!) they may be correct.
I think you are right. And, why would the Algerians want to take out the hostages they were rescuing? I would be relatively sure they did the best job they could do. BP was there as part of an agreement with the Algerian government, who bears primary responsibility for foreigners in their country.
I'd also be relatively sure no one "forced" the site workers to be there...especially the foreign workers, including Americans, Japanese, and Europeans. I suspect they had some understanding of "the risks" of working there vs. say an installation in their own countries. Doesn't transfer responsibility for the acts from the hostage takers to the victims, but it isn't as if they were drilling in Texas...well, at least North Texas.
Ban Islam.
I can only hope this brings a swarm of international drones down upon these terrorists. - RC
(Trust me, it is total hell living under that kind of cloud, knowing every moment might be your last.) - RC
ask and answered