UK confirms operation at Algeria gas plant

2013-01-17 16:36

Road sign near the In Amenas gas field, jointly operated by British oil giant BP, Norway's Statoil and state-run Algerian energy firm Sonatrach, in eastern Algeria near the Libyan border. (Kjetil Alsvik, AFP/ STATOIL)

London - Algerian authorities confirmed to Britain there was an "ongoing operation" on Thursday at the Algerian gas plant where Islamist gunmen were holding dozens of foreign hostages, the Foreign Office said.

"The prime minister was updated on the latest situation by the Algerian prime minister in the last hour," a spokesperson said.

"It remains an ongoing situation. The Algerian authorities have confirmed that there is an ongoing operation," she added.

A spokesman for the kidnappers, believed to be linked to the Islamists in Mali, told a Mauritania-based news agency that 34 hostages and 15 kidnappers had been killed in an Algerian army assault on the BP-operated plant.

The militants killed two people including one Briton in Wednesday's attack at southern Algerian gas field and took 41 hostages, including British, Irish, French, Norwegian and Japanese citizens.

Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesperson said earlier on Thursday that Britain would consider any requests for help from Algeria in its efforts to free the hostages.

- AFP