Hostages killed after Algerian military attempt rescue mission

Algerian forces launched their attack yesterday, and while some hostages were believed to have escaped, last night it was reported two Britons, two Japanese, and one French national had been killed.

An Algerian security source added that at least 11 militants, including one Frenchman were also dead.

According to militants, hostages were wounded when Algerian helicopters attacked the In Amenas gas plant, a joint venture of BP, Norway’s Statoil and Algerian Sonatrach. Earlier reports said the helicopter attack had killed 35 hostages and 15 kidnappers in the Sahara stand-off.

Prime Minister David Cameron last night warned Britain it should be “prepared for the possibility of further bad news”. One British citizen was already confirmed dead in the hostage taking.

Mr Cameron spoke after it emerged Britain had not been pre-warned of the military rescue operation despite the Prime Minister asking to be kept fully informed.

The Government’s emergency Cobra committee had met twice yesterday, with Mr Cameron in the chair, and he said they would continue “working around the clock to do everything we can to keep in contact with the families, to build the fullest possible picture of the information and the intelligence”.

“I will do everything I can to update people about what is a difficult and dangerous and potentially very bad situation,” he said.

Foreign Secretary William Hague was cutting short a visit to Australia to return to the UK to help deal with the crisis, which was also the subject of phone talks between Mr Cameron and US president Barack Obama and French president Francois Hollande.

The militant group that was believed to be holding the hostages had claimed it carried out the attack in retaliation for French military intervention against al -Qaida-backed rebels in neighbouring Mali.

The Foreign Office attempted to prepare the British public for the worst, saying: “We should be under no illusion that there will be some bad and distressing news to follow from this terrorist attack.”

The drama at the gas complex in Illizi province, near the Libyan border, began on Wednesday when heavily-armed militants launched a dawn raid, killing two and injuring six others.

The militants – reportedly led by the veteran jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar – threatened previously to “eliminate” their 41 hostages, including Britons, Americans, Norwegians and Japanese, if they were attacked.

British offers of assistance in dealing with the situation were declined and diplomatic tensions were exposed over the unilateral action.

Algerian forces who had ringed the In Amenas complex in a tense stand-off had vowed not to negotiate with the kidnappers, who reportedly were seeking safe passage

Mr Cameron was told the operation was under way only when he telephoned the Algerian prime minister at 11.30am.

The Prime Minister made clear he would have preferred to be informed in advance, but the Algerians said they had to act “immediately”. Algerian communications minister Mohand Said Oubelaid said: “An important number of hostages were freed and an important number of terrorists were eliminated, and we regret the few dead and wounded.”

He added the “terrorists are multinational”, and had the goal of “destabilising Algeria, embroiling it in the Mali conflict and damaging its natural gas infrastructure”.

The Irish government confirmed one of its nationals – Stephen McFaul, 36, from west Belfast – had been freed and had made contact with his family.

His mother Marie said: “He phoned me to say al-Qaida were holding him, kidnapped, and to contact the Irish government, for they wanted publicity. Nightmare, so it was. He’ll not be back. He’ll take a job here in Belfast like the rest of us.”