Algeria crisis: 'Captors and hostages die in assault' [View all]

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

Eleven hostage-takers have been killed as Algerian troops launched a final raid on a Sahara gas plant where foreign workers were being held captive, state news agency APS said.

Seven hostages were summarily killed by their captors as the troops tried to free them, the agency said.
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APS has previously said 12 Algerian and foreign workers have been killed since rescue efforts began.

About 30 foreigners remain unaccounted for, including fewer than 10 from the UK.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21101092

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More from Reuters:

"It is over now, the assault is over, and the military are inside the plant clearing it of mines," a local source familiar with the operation told Reuters.
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Earlier on Saturday, Algerian special forces found 15 burned bodies at the plant. Efforts were underway to identify the bodies, the source told Reuters, and it was not clear how they had died.

Sixteen foreign hostages were freed on Saturday, a source close to the crisis said. They included two Americans, two Germans and one Portuguese.
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Two Norwegians were released overnight, leaving six unaccounted for, while Romania said three of its nationals had been freed. A number of Japanese engineering workers were still unaccounted for.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/19/us-sahara-crisis-idUSBRE90F1JJ20130119