Islamist militants take hostages in Algeria

[LongBlade]

Well to be fair we didn't seem to be to damned interested in doing anything if the news coverage means anything.  The media is much more interested in disarming the American public and Lance Armstrong's doping then speaking about yet another foreign debacle.

Foreign policy is Obama's strongest accomplishment. No need to examine it closely. I'm sure he thinks that the less attention it gets, the better.

[Centurion40]

Reports are still mixed, as is often the case with stuff like this.

Apparently the Algerians moved on the terrorists without consulting with anyone else.

On the one hand, I'm pleased that the Algerian government decisively; on the other hand I question the effectiveness of Algerian special forces, and can only wonder if the French BFST would have been more effective.  Perhaps there was not enough time to get European or American special forces in place.  I realize that any special forces intervention can be a crapshoot, but still, when hostage lives are in play, you want the best odds possible in your favour.

What CNN is reporting this morning:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/18/world/africa/algeria-hostage-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Algeria: Some hostages have been killed

(CNN) -- A total of 650 hostages have been freed by Algerian Special Forces from Islamist militants who seized a gas complex deep in the desert, according to the state media.

Of those taken hostage on Wednesday, 573 were Algerians, according to the state-run Algerian Press Service news agency. It said "over half" of the 132 foreigners workers held in the hostage crisis have been freed.
CNN has not independently confirmed the APS report.

State-run Algerian Radio earlier cited an official source as saying a major military raid launched Thursday was over but that there was "ongoing activity at various locations" near the plant, which "some of the hostage-takers are still using as a hideout."

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday morning that the Algerians were still pursuing terrorists and possibly hostages at the large and complex site in the Sahara.

Whereas:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/458010-algeria-news-service-60-hostages-missing-or-dead

Algeria news service: 60 hostages missing or dead

ALGIERS, Algeria — Algeria's state news service says about 60 foreign hostages are unaccounted for in the standoff with Islamist militants now entering its third day.

The news service said more than half the 132 foreign hostages had been freed, but the report could not account for the rest. The report Friday also said special forces had resumed negotiations after an assault Thursday at the gas plant deep in the Sahara.

A Mauritanian news site that frequently receives messages from al-Qaida linked militants said the hostage-takers in Algeria had offered to trade two captive Americans for two jailed terror figures in the United States.

One of the two, Omar Abdel Rahman, masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Earlier, the state news service released a radio report saying Algerian special forces have killed 18 militants and were continuing an assault Friday on the main gas plant.

Algeria's government has kept a tight grip on information, but it was clear that the militant assault that began Wednesday has killed at least six people from the factory — and perhaps many more.

Militants claimed that military helicopters opened fire Thursday when they were transporting hostages from the living quarters to the main factory area, and that 35 hostages and 15 militants died in the strafing.

An Algerian military raid to free hostages from at least 10 countries at a remote Sahara natural gas complex and wipe out their Islamist militant captors unleashed bloody chaos, and the British government said Friday that the situation was not yet over.

The fate of the fighters and many of the captives remained uncertain, and dueling claims from the military and the militants have muddied the world's understanding of an event that angered Western leaders.

By nightfall, Algeria's government said the raid was over. But Britain's Foreign Office said Friday morning that "the terrorist incident remains ongoing." It said it could give no further details. Manuel Valls, France's interior minister, said the situation remained murky.

Among those killed were Britons, Filipinos and Algerians. Terrorized hostages from Ireland and Norway trickled out of the Ain Amenas plant. Dozens more remained unaccounted for: Americans, Britons, French, Norwegians, Romanians, Malaysians, Japanese, Algerians and the fighters themselves.

[Shelldrake]

This is the latest from BBC.

Foreign citizens involved
- Fourteen Japanese missing
- Eight Norwegians missing
- Significantly fewer than 30 Britons "at risk"; two Britons (from Scotland) believed to be safe
- Unknown number of Americans
- Possibly citizens of Romania, Thailand, the Philippines, Colombia, South Korea and Austria
- Two French citizens safe
- One Irish citizen from Northern Ireland safe
- One Kenyan safe
- One Austrian safe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21071378

Apparently still lots of confusion over number of hostages and militants killed in the operation.

[Centurion40]

I'm doing some light reading on the military of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria.  First off, that they call it the "People's National Army", and that it is a conscript army fills me with little confidence.  They are supplied by Russia and China.  The good news is that the Algerians had enough sense to return some of their equipment due to poor quality.

[LongBlade]

40 nailed it.

I'm sure the Algerian special forces are good guys, but it's unlikely they have the same level of training and equipment that France might have.

[Longdan]

Since the bad guys are probably first cousins of the good guys it is probably better done
by the French, some but not all of whom are second cousins of the bad guys.
Get it out of the immediate family.

[LongBlade]

Since the bad guys are probably first cousins of the good guys it is probably better done
by the French, some but not all of whom are second cousins of the bad guys.
Get it out of the immediate family.

Poor choice of words on my part. I should have said the Algerian special forces are tough professionals. I didn't mean to say they were especially pro-American or acting much in our interests.

[Longdan]

I do not know what to make of Algeria.  Morocco has been a US ally when it suited them.

[LongBlade]

I do not know what to make of Algeria.  Morocco has been a US ally when it suited them.

Algeria used to be part of what was called the Barbary Coast. It's when Smuck & Jarhead's theme song added the line "...to the Shores of Tripoli."

[Longdan]

After that it got French.

[Electric_Strawberry]

The Algerian government fought a long, protracted and very bloody war against Islamist rebels in the 1990's before finally crushing them.  Now, in the past couple of years, they have watched as the West has allowed, or even assisted,  Islamist elements to take power all thoughout Africa.  The attack on the oil complex took place on Algerian soil.  I can fully understand why they took action without consulting anyone.