BAMAKO, Mali — An Algerian military operation against heavily armed kidnappers holding American and other hostages at a remote gas field facility in the Sahara continued Friday, and the fate of some captives remained unclear.
Kjetil Alsvik/Statoil, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
An undated photo of the In Amenas gas field in Algeria, where Islamist militants took dozens of foreign hostages on Wednesday.
Adding to the deep uncertainties, a spokesman for the militants, who belong to a group called Al Mulathameen, said Friday that they planned further attacks in Algeria, according to a report on Friday by the Mauritanian news agency ANI, which maintains frequent contact with militant groups in the region. The spokesman called upon Algerians to “keep away from the installations of foreign companies, because we will suddenly attack where no one would expect it,” ANI reported.
A United States Africa Command spokesman, Ben Benson, said an Air Force aircraft had landed at an airstrip near the facility and was evacuating Americans and people from other countries involved in the hostage event. He said they would be flown to an American facility in Europe.
The Algerian military operation began on Thursday without consultation with the foreign governments whose citizens worked at the plant. It has been marked by a fog of conflicting reports, compounded by the remoteness of the gas plant, near a town called In Amenas hundreds of miles across the desert from the Algerian capital, Algiers, and close to the Libyan border.
Algeria’s state radio, citing an official source, reported on Friday that 18 militants had been killed, the first precise death count offered by state media. But there was no official word on the number of hostages who had been freed, killed or were still held captive. Estimates of the foreign casualties ranged from 4 to 35, though one Algerian official said the higher figure was “exaggerated.”
On Friday, the official Algerian government news service said the country’s special forces were seeking to reach a “peaceful solution” with a “terrorist group” that was holding hostages at the gas field. The account gave some sense of the scale of the operation, saying about 650 people had been freed or had escaped, including 573 Algerians and “more than half of the 132” foreigners — the highest figures to emerge from several days of confused and unconfirmed tallies. Many of the employees inside the sprawling facility hunkered down during the military operation, and never came into contact with the kidnappers before slipping out.
But that still seemed to leave dozens unaccounted for.
Speaking in Parliament, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said the number of Britons at risk was estimated late Thursday at “less than 30.” That number has now been “quite significantly reduced,” he said, adding that he could not give details because the crisis is continuing.
Offering a broad account of Algeria’s handling of the operation, he told lawmakers: “We were not informed of this in advance. I was told by the Algerian prime minister while it was taking place. He said that the terrorists had tried to flee, that they judged there to be an immediate threat to the lives of the hostages and had felt obliged to respond.”
He added: “This is a large and complex site and they are still pursuing terrorists and possibly some of the hostages in other areas of the site. The Algerian prime minister has just told me this morning that they are now looking at all possible routes to resolving this crisis.”
BP, the British-based energy giant that jointly controls the gas installation in Algeria, said in a statement on Friday that there was a “small number of BP employees” at the facility “whose current location and situation remain uncertain.” The company said it flew out 11 of its staff members along with hundreds of employees of other oil companies on Thursday.
The Japanese government said on Friday that three of its citizens had escaped but that 14 were still unaccounted for. On Friday, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta met with Mr. Cameron in London as Pentagon officials were continuing to try to learn details about the raid.
“We are working around the clock to ensure the safe return of our citizens and we will continue to be in close consultation with the Algerian government,” Mr. Panetta said in a speech in London before meeting with Mr. Cameron.
Senior American military officials said an unarmed American Predator drone was monitoring the gas field site. One senior official said that seven to eight Americans were among the hostages — the first official indication of the number of Americans involved — and that he did not know if any had been killed in the raid.
As Rescue Operation Continues in Algeria, Fate of Hostages Remains Unclear
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As Rescue Operation Continues in Algeria, Fate of Hostages Remains Unclear
