Algeria: Canadians among slain captors
2013-01-21 12:20
Algiers - Two days after Algerian forces ended a hostage
crisis at a desert gas plant, the exact toll of those killed in the bloodbath
remained unknown on Monday, while a television report identified two of the
captors as Canadians.
The interior ministry had on Saturday reported that 23
foreign and Algerian hostages and 32 Islamist captors were killed during the
four-day siege of the In Amenas gas plant in the deep Sahara desert.
The announcement was made soon after Algerian special forces
had stormed the facility, ending the crisis.
But Algeria's private Ennahar television reported that 25
bodies were discovered at the plant on Sunday, while French daily El-Watan gave
a toll of 30 hostages found dead at the site the same day.
And Algerian media on Monday reported that around 50
hostages were killed, including foreigners and Algerians.
Algerian Communications Minister Mohamed Said had warned on
Sunday that the death toll would be "revised upwards" but did not
provide any figures.
Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal is expected to unveil final
figures at a 13:00 GMT press conference on Monday.
The interior ministry said that Algerian forces were able to
free "685 Algerian employees and 107 foreigners".
In a separate report on Monday, Ennahar television said that
the bodies of two Canadians, who were among Islamists killed in the crisis,
have been recovered from the site.
"Two bodies of Canadian citizens were recovered among
the terrorists in In Amenas," the channel reported, citing security
sources.
When asked by AFP, a security source, without confirming,
said: "We knew there were two Canadians among them."
- SAPA
