Adam Gerstenfeld January 17th 2013

Over 800 People Held Captive by Terrorists in Algeria

The Tigantourine gas facility near In Amenas, Algeria, where three Americans and many foreigners were taken hostage yesterday.

"Terrorists! Terrorists! It's a terrorist attack!" These were the first words that Murielle, a French nurse, and the only female foreign at the In Amenas natural gas facility of around 800 people, heard early morning yesterday. Murielle is one of the few survivors that escaped this morning from the seized gas facility. Others were not as lucky. Less than twenty-four hours ago, around 40 Arabs intercepted two buses of employees en route to this worksite. Three foreigners who fled from the bus scene were supposedly shot, while two were confirmed dead as they challenged the infidels. One of the murdered victims was an Algerian security guard who managed to turn on the alarm systems before he died. As the crisis continued, a Briton was also killed and at least seven others were injured during the initial capture of hostages and assault on the plant. The assault was led by Mokhtar Belmoktar, a former senior commander in al-Qaedas local branch. The man.has allegedly 60 fighters under his command. He was, until two months

ago, Amir of AQIM [Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb], University of Florida assistant professor Terje Ostebo explains. Terje Ostebo works in the African studies department, and says that that after Belmoktar broke from al-Qaeda a few months ago, his primary center of operations has been in Algeria. This is his kind of turf Ostebo cautions. The incident is supposedly happening as a response to the French invasion of Mali. One spokesperson from the militants says specifically they are launching a counterattack against Algerias opening of its airspace to French warplanes. This feeds into a larger picture where al-Qaeda are viewing the West as a kind of opponent to Islam Ostebo says. As of midday today, Algerian Special Forces launched an operation to free the captives. As Algerian troops attempted the rescue, the slaughter continued as more escaping hostages were killed by terrorists, and others were used as human shields. Authorities are still unsure of the number of injuries and casualties.