The militants were said to be holding an unknown number of international hostages after Algerian forces assaulted the complex Thursday, mounting a heavily armed and hastily executed operation to free the captives after the militants attempted to move some of them in vehicles.
Though hundreds appear to have been released — with the first of the British survivors landing late Friday at London's Gatwick Airport via a transport flight chartered by energy giant BP — unverified reports indicated a death toll of at least 30 hostages and 14 militants.
However, Algeria's state-run news agency, Algeria Press Service (APS), on Friday reported a "provisional" death toll of 12 Algerian and foreign hostages and 18 "terrorists." It attributed the information to a "security source" and said a breakdown of the number of foreign victims and their nationalities was not available.
The agency painted a chaotic picture Friday of what seemed set to be the largest and most deadly hostage crisis of recent memory, with militants reportedly taking more than 650 hostages. The news service said nearly all of the 573 Algerian hostages appeared to be freed, though only 100 of the 132 foreigners from eight different nations, including the United States, had been accounted for.
APS said the Algerian military used "missiles, rocket launchers, grenades, machine guns and assault rifles" in storming the compound.
The militants were equipped with explosive belts, some of which were reportedly laced around hostages, APS said. The agency sought to portray the Algerian mission as a success, calling it an "extremely complex operation that avoided the worst."
Echoing the dismay of many governments representing the foreign hostages, British Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament on Friday that he had not been given advance notice of the Algerian operation.
After speaking with his Algerian counterpart again Friday, Cameron said the Algerians were scouring the sprawling Tiguentourine compound — which is jointly run by London-based BP, Norway's Statoil and the Algerian state energy company, Sonatrach — for terrorists and hostages.
"This is a large and complex site and they are still pursuing terrorists and possibly some of the hostages," Cameron said.
A senior French official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to address sensitive issues, said Algerian soldiers are making their way through the complex's many buildings and other potential hiding places. The official said Algerian authorities have not been forthcoming about tallies of the dead and rescued, leaving the French government uncertain of the fate of even French hostages, not to mention those from other countries.
0 comments:
Post a Comment