• Islamists take foreign hostages in attack on Algerian oil field
    7 replies, posted
[quote](CNN) -- Islamists angry over Algiers' support for the French offensive in Mali attacked an Algerian gas field, caused casualties and seized more than 40 foreign hostages, North African media outlets reported Wednesday. At least one foreigner died in the terrorist attack on the In Amenas field near the Libyan border in the east, Algeria's Interior Ministry said Wednesday. Algerian media later reported a second person, a British national, was killed as well. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed the incident and said some Americans were among the hostages, but gave no further details. She said the United States is in touch with Algerian authorities and closely monitoring the situation. The U.S. Embassy has issued an emergency message to U.S. citizens in that country to be careful, she said. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in Europe meeting with NATO allies, called the hostage-taking "a terrorist attack." An Islamist group claiming the attack told the Mauritanian News Agency and Sahara Media that 41 "Westerners including seven Americans, (as well as) French, British and Japanese citizens have been taken hostage." A spokesman for the group -- the name of which was translated as "those who sign with blood" -- said that the jihadists have been able to gain control of the plant. Stressing that the operation is an act of revenge against Algeria, the spokesman said that there are 400 Algerian soldiers on the site "who have not been targeted by jihadists." The terrorist group targeted a bus carrying passengers from a workers' base at the gas field to an airport, Algeria's Interior Ministry said. At least six people were injured, it said. When the early morning attack was repelled by guards, the group besieged part of the site and "captured an undetermined number of workers, including foreigners," it said. The nationality of the casualties is not yet clear. A spokesman for the Norwegian Prime Ministers' office confirmed to CNN that "13 Norwegians, all employees of Statoil, are involved in the incident at Amenas gas field in Algeria." The UK Foreign Office said British nationals are also caught up in the incident. Ireland's foreign minister said there are reports that an Irish citizen is involved, but the office of the French president has refused to comment on reports that French citizens are among the hostages. Oil giant BP, which operates the In Amenas field in a joint venture with Sonatrac, the Algerian national oil company, and Norway's Statoil, said it was attacked by "unidentified armed people" who are now occupying the site. The gas field lies about 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of the Libyan border and some 1,300 kilometers from the capital, Algiers, BP said. The Libyan, Algerian and Tunisian prime ministers reached security agreements on Saturday in a summit in Libya. They agreed to work together against terrorist threats. Criticism emerged on a Facebook page from jihadists in eastern Libya. They praised al-Shabaab in Somalia after the French failed hostage rescue, expressed support for the fighters in northern Mali and condemned the summit.[/quote] [url]http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/16/world/africa/algeria-attack/index.html?hpt=hp_t1[/url]
[QUOTE]A spokesman for the Norwegian Prime Ministers' office confirmed to CNN that "13 Norwegians, all employees of Statoil, are involved in the incident at Amenas gas field in Algeria." [/QUOTE] My dad's a Statoil engineer, I'll ask him if he knows of any of these guys.
[QUOTE=mac338;39244309]My dad's a Statoil engineer, I'll ask him if he knows of any of these guys.[/QUOTE] It might be your dad.
[QUOTE=Scrimp;39244317]It might be your dad.[/QUOTE] Because he totally would've asked his dad about hostages in Algeria if he's dad was in Algeria.
It's all over the news here in Norway. 4 Norwegians are in safety as of now.
islamists, islamists, islamists you would think the only defining character of these militants is that they're muslims
[QUOTE=JerryK;39246075]islamists, islamists, islamists you would think the only defining character of these militants is that they're muslims[/QUOTE] This is not Islam and these guys do nothing but bring shame and bad reputation to other Muslims. Hopefully the middle east and north africa gets sorted out soon.
[QUOTE=Iago;39246435]This is not Islam and these guys do nothing but bring shame and bad reputation to other Muslims. Hopefully the middle east and north africa gets sorted out soon.[/QUOTE] The problem is when people think "Islamic Terrorists" and "Islamists" are the same thing. Just because the mass media doesn't understand the difference between the words doesn't mean we should be content in using them. Lets just call them "Terrorists" or "Crazed nutjobs" edit: Which is what I believe jerryK was getting at in his post.
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