The nightmare prevailing in the Algerian gas plant located near Amenas, in the southeast of the country, has continued throughout Thursday. The Algerian army has conducted two military assaults to try to end the mass kidnapping of employees. The latest report, provided by Algerian military sources told Reuters, is 30 hostages dead, of which at least seven foreigners. The same sources indicate that there are two Japanese, two Britons and a Frenchman among the hostages killed. The Algerian Minister of Communication, Mohamed Said, has reported that the terrorists of various nationalities, came from Libya and that at least 11 of them, among whom was the cell leader, Abu al Baraa, have been killed .
Military intervention has lasted all day (in two different phases, the first by air), but has failed to fully release the gas plant, contrary to what local officials said after the second raid Algerian troops. The facility remains surrounded as only a part of them are under the control of the military, officials have said the state agency APS. According to this information, the Islamists have become strong in another part of the complex, with an unknown number of hostages.
Amenas, Algeria, Photo Credit BP
The operation involved has led countries such as UK and Norway to criticize the lack of information from Algiers. UK has not been informed in advance of the intervention and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has described it as “dangerous” and “uncertain.” “The Algerians are aware that we would prefer to be notified in advance”, said a spokesman for British Foreign Office.
French President François Hollande, said that the crisis was developing in “terrible dramatic conditions”, and stressed that this event ” justified more the decision to intervene in Mali”. Japan has demanded an end to the operation and Norway has expressed its displeasure at the lack of news, but the Prime Minister said it was still “early” to assess the operation. The White House has said they are awaiting for more clarification of the facts.
Contradictory Information
Reports have been confused all day. The group allied to Al Qaeda told Reuters that they Have kept seven Western captives: three Belgians, two Americans, a Briton and a Japanese. And Reuters, citing a security source in Algeria, said that 25 others had escaped before the assault. The Algerian official news agency APS said that at least four Western (two Britons, a Kenyan and French) had been released by the Army, and even that another 600 employees at the plant were released.
In addition, the Japanese government has confirmed that three of its citizens have been freed but another fourteen are missing.
The up to 60 terrorists, according to Mauritanian press, are still taking gas company belonging to a group named “The undersigned with their blood ‘founded last December by Mokhtar Belmojtar, nicknamed the Eye.
Belmojtar is one of two historic leaders in Mali in the North African branch of Al Qaeda (AQIM) and responsible for the kidnapping of three Catalans in Mauritania in 2009. Late last year split from the North African branch of Al Qaeda (AQIM) to found his own cell, but continues to work closely with their former comrades in arms.
His followers arrived at the gas plant across the border from Libya, less than a hundred miles away. They had come from Mali, whose northern fringe Belmojtar be settled over a decade ago. On Wednesday raided the plant and kidnapped at least 41 foreigners and 150 Algerians to demand the end of the military operation launched by France and several African countries to crack down on radical Islamists who have become strong in northern Mali. This is the largest mass kidnapping terrorist challenge facing the Algerian government since 2003, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), which yielded Al Qaeda in the Maghreb, seized 32 tourists in the Sahara.
The Algerian assault was led by General Abdelrazak Chérif, commander of the fourth military region, bordering Libya, where the terrorists came, as detailed Algiers. At least 11 of them were killed in the operation. Among them were two Algerian Islamists, three Egyptians, two Tunisians, two Libyans, a Malian citizen and a French national.
The slowness and opacity of the Algerian authorities contrasts with the frequency with which terrorists provided information, peppered with propaganda.
The type of assault was of no surprise to Western foreign ministries. “This is going to end up like Beslan,” a European diplomat predicted Algerian massacre comparing it to the elite Russian forces in 2004 in a school in North Ossetia that resulted in killing 344 civilians 186 were children.
Algerian Interior Minister, Dahu Ould Kablia, had made it clear on Thursday that Algeria refused to negotiate with terrorists whose demands were apparently confused.
The plant is operated jointly by the Algerian Sonatrach, BP and Norway’s Statoil. BP has ordered all staff “not essential” in Algeria to leave the country.
In a telephone interview for French television France 24, one of the hostages reported on Wednesday night that the Islamists have forced some of the hostages to wear belts packed with explosives. The chain said it could not confirm whether the hijackers had forced him to make these statements. The man explained that the kidnappers were heavily armed and had threatened to blow up the natural gas field if the Algerian army tries to free the hostages.
The oil and gas installations are usually highly protected by private security and the Gendarmerie. BP has announced that gas extraction has been paralyzed for a whil. For its part, the Spanish Cepsa has announced it will preventively evacuate all its staff.
In short the situation remains unclear and confusing reports add to panic and fear of the families and relatives of the hostages.
Said Temsamani is a Moroccan political observer and consultant, who follows events in his country and across North Africa. He is a Senior Fellow, Merdian International Center Washington DC, Founder and CEO “Public Initiatives” Consulting firm and Former Senior Political Advisor, US Embassy Rabat, Morocco.
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