Two foreign workers, one of them a French security guard and the other a British national have been killed and several others wounded when militants attacked a British Petroleum, BP, facility in eastern Algeria and took a number BP workers as hostages.
In a statement, BP said in a statement the site was ?attacked and occupied by a group of unidentified armed people,? and personnel were being ?held by the occupiers.?
Earlier, several people were wounded when a bus carrying workers from the facility, near In Amenas, was targeted. After being repelled, the militants travelled to a residential area, taking an unknown number of workers hostage.
First indications showed that the number of kidnapped workers was eight, although unconfirmed reports later put the number at 41, including US, French, British and Japanese citizens.
An anonymous official who spoke to the Guardian said the Algerian army had surrounded, and is negotiating with, militants holding hostages from the UK, Norway, Japan and Ireland.
The In Amenas gas field, 1,300km south-east of the Algerian capital, Algiers, and about 60km west of the Libyan border, is operated by the Algerian state oil company, Sonatrach, along with Statoil and the British oil company BP.
The Algerian interior ministry confirmed that a "terrorist group", heavily armed and using three vehicles, launched an attack Wednesday had attacked the bus carrying workers from the In Amenas gas field at 5 am to the Sonatrach base.
It added in a statement, that the attack was "repelled by the escort units", but one foreign national was killed and six people - two foreigners, two police and two security personnel - were wounded.
The ministry added, that after their failed attempt, the terrorist group headed to the complex's living quarters and took a number of workers with foreign nationalities hostage. It said: ?The forces of the People's National Army and security services arrived at the scene and immediately took all necessary measures to make the area secure and seek a rapid resolution of the situation, which is being very closely followed by the national authorities.?
The UK government confirmed that several British nationals had been involved in a "terrorist incident", while BP confirmed that there had been a "security incident".
Later in the day a man claiming to be a spokesman for the militants told BBC that al-Qaeda had carried out the attack and that a list of demands had reportedly been sent to the Algerian authorities. They said that the hostages would be killed if troops attempted to rescue them.
?Storming the gas complex would be easy for the Algerian military, but the outcome of such an operation would be disastrous,? he warned.
Earlier, a group known as the Khaled Abu al-Abbas Brigade told the AFP news agency that it had kidnapped the workers.
In a statement, BP said in a statement the site was ?attacked and occupied by a group of unidentified armed people,? and personnel were being ?held by the occupiers.?
Earlier, several people were wounded when a bus carrying workers from the facility, near In Amenas, was targeted. After being repelled, the militants travelled to a residential area, taking an unknown number of workers hostage.
First indications showed that the number of kidnapped workers was eight, although unconfirmed reports later put the number at 41, including US, French, British and Japanese citizens.
An anonymous official who spoke to the Guardian said the Algerian army had surrounded, and is negotiating with, militants holding hostages from the UK, Norway, Japan and Ireland.
The In Amenas gas field, 1,300km south-east of the Algerian capital, Algiers, and about 60km west of the Libyan border, is operated by the Algerian state oil company, Sonatrach, along with Statoil and the British oil company BP.
The Algerian interior ministry confirmed that a "terrorist group", heavily armed and using three vehicles, launched an attack Wednesday had attacked the bus carrying workers from the In Amenas gas field at 5 am to the Sonatrach base.
It added in a statement, that the attack was "repelled by the escort units", but one foreign national was killed and six people - two foreigners, two police and two security personnel - were wounded.
The ministry added, that after their failed attempt, the terrorist group headed to the complex's living quarters and took a number of workers with foreign nationalities hostage. It said: ?The forces of the People's National Army and security services arrived at the scene and immediately took all necessary measures to make the area secure and seek a rapid resolution of the situation, which is being very closely followed by the national authorities.?
The UK government confirmed that several British nationals had been involved in a "terrorist incident", while BP confirmed that there had been a "security incident".
Later in the day a man claiming to be a spokesman for the militants told BBC that al-Qaeda had carried out the attack and that a list of demands had reportedly been sent to the Algerian authorities. They said that the hostages would be killed if troops attempted to rescue them.
?Storming the gas complex would be easy for the Algerian military, but the outcome of such an operation would be disastrous,? he warned.
Earlier, a group known as the Khaled Abu al-Abbas Brigade told the AFP news agency that it had kidnapped the workers.
