Hostage situation in Algeria

[The Tavros Nitram]

(all credit to msnbc for this article)

By Alastair Jamieson, NBC News
The death toll in the bloody Algeria hostage siege is likely to rise, Algeria warned on Sunday as governments struggled to confirm reports 23 Western workers – including some Americans - had been killed.
A day after the desert crCIA was ended by Algerian troops, 25 bodies were discovered inside the gas pumping facility that was stormed by Islamist militants on Wednesday, according to reports cited by Reuters and the Associated Press.
Confusion still surrounds the deadly incident, which has renewed global fears about the likelihood of terror attacks and the safety of Westerners around the world.
It has also left other governments, including Britain, with a frustrating wait for further information out of the west African country.
Algeria’s government said Saturday that 23 hostages and 32 militants were killed during ‘rescue’ assaults launched by its own forces, with 107 foreign hostages and 685 Algerian hostages freed.
However, Minister of Communication Mohamed Said this would rise when final numbers were issued in the coming hours, Reuters reported.
"I am afraid unfortunately to say that the death toll will go up," Said was quoted as saying by the official APS news agency.
The U.S. government confirmed Friday that one of the dead hostages was Frederick Buttaccio from Texas.
The exact number of other Americans involved, and their fate, remains unclear.
President Barack Obama said on Saturday the United States was seeking from Algerian authorities a fuller understanding of what took place, but said "the blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out."
Britain on Sunday confirmed that three of its citizens and one British resident had been killed in the Algerian military operation.
Prime Minister David Cameron echoed Obama’s sentiments, saying responsibility for the deaths “lies squarely with the terrorists who launched the attack,” regardless of questions about the Algerian government's response.
The hostage-taking illustrated the global threat of terrorism which “requires a global response,” Cameron said Sunday.
One Briton had already was confirmed killed when the gunmen seized the hostages before dawn on Wednesday at the plant, run by Norway's Statoil along with Britain's BP and Algeria's state oil company.
The AP reported that "numerous" bodies were found at the pumping facility by Algerian de-mining squads searching for explosives, according to an Algerian government spokesman.
Statoil said five of its workers, all Norwegian nationals, were still missing. Japanese workers are also unaccounted for, Reuters said.

yet Obama's being sworn in is more important. I dont' know what they're going to do about this one... reminds me of Argo.

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[Jairo]

how about instead of crediting msnbc for the article, you could link us?

[The Tavros Nitram]

how about instead of crediting msnbc for the article, you could link us?

Here's the link. http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/20/16610122-sahara-hostage-death-toll-will-rise-algeria-warns?lite
Sorry, I would have done it in the OP. I'll add the link.

[Jairo]

Here's the link. http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/20/16610122-sahara-hostage-death-toll-will-rise-algeria-warns?lite
Sorry, I would have done it in the OP. I'll add the link.

danke

[lcyGamma]

how about instead of crediting msnbc for the article, you could link us?

Mind was read.

This news isn't exactly breaking though. Current affairs just aren't current by the time it makes it here it seems, I wonder why.

[The Tavros Nitram]

Mind was read.

This news isn't exactly breaking though. Current affairs just aren't current by the time it makes it here it seems, I wonder why.

huehue, time changes huehue

but I don't understand why this isn't big, the hostage death toll is climbing strongly to 23 and this isn't a big deal? that's insane!