Thirty-five foreign hostages were killed today by Algerian forces who launched 
air strikes on the BP gas plant seized by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, militants said. Soldiers from the Saharan state attacked the gas field where dozens of Westerners including Britons and Americans were being held in revenge for France's assault on al-Qaeda rebels in neighbouring Mali.
Helicopters began strafing the plant this morning, hours after the rebels
had threatened to blow up the hostages if they intervened. Fifteen kidnappers, who had semtex strapped to their vests, were also reportedly killed at the Amenas field, deep in the Saharan south east of the country. Terrorist orchestrator Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Islamist known as The Uncatchable, is believed to be among them.
A spokesman for the Masked Brigade, which had earlier claimed responsibility
for the assault said Abou El Baraa, the leader of the kidnappers, was also killed in the helicopter attack. The information came from the Nouakchott Information Agency, which has often carried reports from al-Qaida-linked extremist groups. The militant spokesman said the kidnappers were attacked by Algerian helicopters when they attempted to leave the complex.
The Algerian government would not immediately comment on the standoff and the Associated Press was not able to independently confirm the information. The reports came as the family of an Irishman being held have made a desperate plea for his release. Earlier, 25 foreign hostages, including Americans and two Japanese, were said to have escaped from their captors.
The development came after it emerged British hostages being held with up to 45 other foreign nationals and up to 150 Algerians have been forced to wear explosive belts. Sources claimed that two UK nationals had already been killed in the attack by around 20 al-Qaeda militants. While some 30 Algerian workers are said to have also escaped, some of the western hostages are said to be primed to explode if the authorities intervene.
An Algerian security source said the gunmen, who stormed the gas facility on Wednesday, were also demanding safe passage out with their captives. One hostage, identified as British, spoke to Al Jazeera television and called on the Algerian army to withdraw from the area to avoid casualties. 'We are receiving care and good treatment from the kidnappers. The (Algerian) army did not withdraw and they are firing at the camp,' the man said.
'We say to everybody that negotiations is a sign of strength and will spare many any loss of life,' he said, adding that there were about 150 Algerian hostages in custody. Another hostage, identified as Irish, told the Qatar-based channel: 'The situation is deteriorating. We have contacted the embassies and we call the Algerian army to withdraw... we are worried because of the continuation of the firing. Among the hostages are French, American, Japanese, British, Norwegian and Irish.'
In what it said was a phone interview with one of the hostage takers, the Mauritanian news agency ANI said Algerian security forces had tried to approach the facility at dawn. 'We will kill all the hostages if the Algerian army try to storm the area,' it quoted the hostage-taker as saying. Algeria has not commented on reports its troops tried to approach.
Numbers of those held were unclear, but a group calling itself the 'Battalion of Blood' earlier said it seized 41 foreigners, including Americans, Japanese and Europeans, after storming a natural gas pumping station and employee barracks in Algeria before dawn on Wednesday. A number of Scots were are among the hostages being held in Algeria, First Minister Alex Salmond told MSPs today.
A third unidentified hostage who spoke to France 24 television said prisoners were being forced to wear explosive belts. Their captors were heavily armed and had threatened to blow up the base if the Algerian army tried to storm it. 'They attacked the two sites at the same time. They went inside, and once it was daylight they gathered everyone together,' the man, who sounded calm, said in the only part of the phone call the French broadcaster aired.
Meanwhile, Britain is allowing the Algerian government to take the lead in the ongoing
hostage
crisis and has received no requests for support, Downing Street said
today. Following a meeting of the British Government's emergency
response committee Cobra this morning, David Cameron said the right
approach was to continue working with the Algerian government.
The Prime Minister has offered any assistance to Algerian counterparts, but his spokesman said this had so far been refused. The Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'The nature and the extent of the attack suggests some considerable degree of pre-planning.' The Government was 'aware' of reports that the perpetrators claimed it was linked to events in Mali, but added: 'Nothing whatsoever justifies these appalling and criminal actions.'
Asked whether the SAS may be sent in, he said: 'We never comment on that sort of thing.' A Government source said: 'This is a situation where the Algerian government, understandably, very much sees itself as in the lead in its sovereign territory.' The Foreign Office was unable to confirm a report the 20 foreign hostages had escaped from their captors.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague earlier condemned the rebels as 'cold-blooded murderers' and said the government was working 'around the clock' to resolve the crisis. The rebels are now holding up to 45 foreign nationals, including many from the UK, in a compound linked to a BP gas facility on the Libyan border.
However, Algeria's official APS news agency reported today that 30 Algerian workers have managed to escape the site, but did not say how they eluded their captors. It is believed some 150 Algerian staff are also on site. They were being prevented from leaving, but were otherwise free to move around inside and keep on working.
Electricity inside the facility has been cut, but intercepted mobile phone traffic suggests that the attack was planned by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Islamist known as Mr Marlboro and The Uncatchable. An Algerian diplomatic source said 'two British nationals and an Algerian' were believed to have been murdered, while others have been wounded. These figures were also reported by the Algerian news agency, DNA.
Mr Hague said Government is working 'around the clock' to end the siege in which a British national was killed and a number of other UK nationals are currently been held captive. A French security guard and an Algerian security guard are also reported to have been killed and several others injured when heavily armed terrorists from a group known as the ‘Blood Battalion’ stormed the In Amenas natural gas field in 4x4 cars.
The group yesterday claimed it was holding a total of 41 westerners - including seven Americans - in retaliation for the French military intervention against al-Qaeda-backed rebels in neighbouring Mali. Mr Hague said: 'Whatever excuse is being used by terrorists and murderers, there is no excuse. This is the cold-blooded murder of people going about their business.'
The Algerians officially refuse point blank to negotiate with terrorists, but there has been
telephone contact with the killers, said the diplomatic source. The
Algerian government is also in talks with the United States and France
over the possibility of bringing in an international force to break the
siege, unnamed security officials have claimed.
All of the western hostages are thought to have been bound and gagged, and are being kept under close guard by the gunmen. Algerian forces were last night reported to have been surrounding the hostage-takers and negotiating for the release of their captives, but details of what was happening on the ground were sketchy.
British officials are urging caution on the Algerian military amid fears that they will launch a raid to rescue the hostages, a move that could lead to a bloodbath. The Foreign Secretary said the situation was 'extremely dangerous' and details could not be given out 'lightly'.
In particular, the Foreign Office has been unable to confirm a report by the Algeria state news agency that a British national was among two people killed in the attack on the In Amenas gas facility, which is part-controlled by BP, close to the Libyan border. Six others are said to have been wounded, including two foreigners, two police officers and two security agents.
'A number of people are held hostage. This does include a number of British nationals. This is therefore an extremely dangerous situation,' Mr Hague said. 'We are in close touch with the Algerian government, the Algerian military have deployed to the area and the Prime Minister has spoken to the prime minister of Algeria.
'We are liaising very closely with all levels of the Algerian government.'
He said that a rapid deployment team had been sent from the Foreign Office to reinforce British embassy and consular staff in Algeria. The Government's emergency response committee Cobra, which met yesterday, would have further meetings. We will give more details as it becomes possible to do so but obviously it is a very dangerous situation and we cannot give out details very lightly. We will keep people informed,' he said.
Mr Hague said BP was doing 'a good job' keeping the loved ones and families of those involved in the incident up to date. 'The safety of those involved and their co-workers is our absolute priority and we will work around the clock to resolve this crisis,' he added.
Downing Street said Prime Minister David Cameron 'expressed his sympathy and support' when he spoke to his counterpart Abdelmalek Sellal yesterday evening. They agreed to keep in touch as the situation progresses,' a spokeswoman said.
The Irish government said a 36-year-old Irishman was among the hostages. He was believed to be unharmed. The Algerian interior ministry said the attack began when three vehicles carrying heavily-armed-militants ambushed a bus carrying employees from the gas plant to the nearby airport. Initially they were driven off, but they then headed for the main complex.
'After their failed attempt, the terrorist group headed to the complex's living quarters and took a number of workers with foreign nationalities hostage,' an interior ministry statement 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.'
Belmokhtar's gang uses a number of names including Khaled Abul Abbas Brigade, the Masked Ones and The Blood Battalion, and is linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The militant group Katibat Moulathamine - 'The Masked Ones' - yesterday contacted a news agency in the Saharan state of Mauritania to claim that the raid was carried out by an affiliate group, identified as 'Those who sign their names in blood'.
After dark, ANI quoted a militant source saying fighters had repelled a raid by Algerian troops. He added that the hostage-takers' weaponry included mortars and anti-aircraft missiles.
'We hold the Algerian government and the French government and the countries of the hostages fully responsible if our demands are not met and it is up to them to stop the brutal aggression against our people in Mali,' read one statement from the group.
The group's claim could not be independently substantiated.
A spokesman for the Katibat told the Sahara Media Agency that 41 Westerners of nine or 10 nationalities had been taken hostage, including seven Americans.
Five foreigners were being held in a factory, while 36 others were in living quarters at the plant, claimed the spokesman, who said the action was carried out in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to carry out raids on northern Mali.
Britain has provided two RAF C-17 transport aircraft to support the operation as well as offering to share intelligence with Paris.
The In Amenas facility is jointly operated by BP, the Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach.
BP said in a statement that there was 'an ongoing security incident' in the gas field, which was 'attacked and occupied by a group of unidentified armed people' at about 5am UK time.
'Contact with the site is extremely difficult, but we understand that armed individuals are still occupying the In Amenas operations site,' the statement said.
'Our absolute priority is the safety and security of our staff. We do not yet have confirmed information on the status of personnel at the site but believe some are being held by the occupiers.'
Statoil said that it had 20 employees in the facility. The Norwegian Newspaper Bergens Tidende reported that a 55-year-old Norwegian working on the site called his wife to say he was among the hostages.
The Japanese government said Japanese employees working for a company which supplies services to the site may also have been kidnapped.
The attack happened as EU foreign ministers were preparing to meet tomorrow in Brussels to discuss plans to send a 400-strong military training mission to Mali.
All of the victims were on a bus in the south of the country near the town of Ain Amenas, which is in the south east of the former French colony, close to the Libyan border.
A gang of terrorists brandishing machine guns, rocket launchers and grenades opened fire soon after dawn, halting the bus and then moving into the In Amenas gas installation.
The rebels were said to be holding all the hostages inside the plant, which is now surrounded with mines, with the terrorists threatening to detonate them if security forces intervene, said an Algerian diplomatic source based in Paris.
There were some reports last night that semtex explosives were strapped to some of the hostages.
The source confirmed that the facility was ‘in the hands of the terrorists’ who had demanded the release of 100 Islamists held in Algeria, and that everything was being done to capture them and to free the hostages.
Britain has Special Forces and other military personnel in the region and commanders were drawing-up emergency contingency plans for a potential rescue if the situation worsens.
It is understood that the possibility of military action was discussed by the UK, but Algerian officials made clear that they would prefer to resolve the crisis themselves.
But US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said America ‘will take all necessary and proper steps’ to deal with the ‘very serious matter’.
Hundreds of Algerians work at the plant and were taken in the attack, but the state news agency reported that they have gradually been released, unharmed and in small groups, by the late afternoon.
Typically there would be fewer than 20 foreign staff members on site on a typical day, along with hundreds of Algerian employees.
Many hostages were believed to have been on their way to Ain Amenas airport, from where there are regular flights to Gatwick airport.
Gatwick-based company Jet Air is among those who have now suspended their flights from the UK to southern Algeria.
The British worker and a French security guard are thought to have died in a fire fight after the Algerian Army deployed troops at the scene.
Downing Street said that it was 'too early to speculate' on the motive for the attack, or whether it was linked to French support - backed by the UK - for Mali's government in its fight against Islamist forces which have occupied the north of the country.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that a number of Americans are among the 41 hostages, but declined to give names or other details about them 'in order to protect their safety'.
The U.S. embassy in Algiers had issued an emergency message to other U.S. nationals in the country urging them to 'review their security'.
Countries including France and Britain have been on heightened terrorist alert since French forces went into action in Mali on Friday.
In a statement, BP said the site was 'attacked and occupied by a group of unidentified armed people,' and some of its personnel are believed to be 'held by the occupiers.'
The number and identities of the hostages was still unclear, but Ireland announced that a 36-year-old married Irish man was among them, while Japan and Britain said their citizens were involved as well.
A Norwegian woman said her husband called her saying he had been taken hostage.
Six others were wounded in the attack, including two foreigners, two police officers and two security agents, Algeria's state news agency reported.
The French catering company CIS has 150 Algerian employees being held at the site, but they are being allowed ‘to move around freely, unlike the foreign hostages who are trapped in a corner and cannot move,’ said a spokesman.
There are fears that the new front in the war against terror could prompt further Islamist revenge attacks on Western targets, especially in Africa, where Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operates across borders in the Sahara desert.
French President Francois Hollande launched the surprise operation in its former West African colony on Friday, with hopes of stopping al-Qaida-linked and other Islamist extremists he believes pose a danger to the world.
The attack began with the ambush of a bus carrying employees from the gas plant to the nearby airport, but the attackers were driven off, according to the Algerian government, which said three vehicles of heavily armed men were involved.
'After their failed attempt, the terrorist group headed to the complex's living quarters and took a number of workers with foreign nationalities hostage,' said the statement, adding that authorities were following the situation very closely.
Attacks on oil-rich Algeria's hydrocarbon facilities are very rare, despite decades of fighting an Islamist insurgency, mostly in the north of the country.
In the last several years, however, al-Qaeda's influence in the poorly patrolled desert wastes of southern Algeria and northern Mali and Niger has grown and it operates smuggling and kidnapping networks throughout the area.
Militant groups that seized control of northern Mali already hold seven French hostages as well as four Algerian diplomats.
The natural gas field where the attack occurred, however, is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the Mali border, though it is just 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Libya's deserts.
BP, together with Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company, Sonatrach, operate the gas field. A Japanese company, JGC Corp, provides services for the facility as well.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the kidnapped foreigners possibly include Japanese employees of JGC.
'We are certain that JGC is the one affected,' Suga said, adding that the government is now negotiating with local officials through diplomatic channels, asking for safety first to protect the lives of the Japanese nationals
Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told Algerian counterpart, Mourad Medelci, during telephone talks late Wednesday that he was gravely concerned about the development, and called the abductions 'unacceptable.'
'I asked (Algeria) to place top priority on the lives of the Japanese and others who have been captured,' he said.
Statoil said that it has 20 employees in the facility. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said it could not confirm that any Norwegian citizens had been abducted.
The Norwegian Newspaper Bergens Tidende, however, said a 55-year-old Norwegian working on the site called his wife to say he had been abducted.
Algeria had long warned against military intervention against the rebels in northern Mali, fearing the violence could spill over its own long and porous border.
Though its position softened slightly after Hollande visited Algiers in December, Algerian authorities remain skeptical about the operation and worried about its consequences on the region.
Algeria is Africa's biggest country, and has been an ally of the U.S. and France in fighting terrorism for years.
But its relationship with France has been fraught with lingering resentment over colonialism and the bloody war for independence that left Algeria a free country 50 years ago.
Algeria's strong security forces have struggled for years against Islamist extremists, and have in recent years managed to nearly snuff out violence by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb around its home base in northern Algeria. In the meantime, AQIM moved its focus southward.
AQIM has made tens of millions of dollars off kidnapping in the region, abducting Algerian businessmen or political figures for ransom and sometimes foreigners.
The In Amenas attack was the first of its kind in Algeria since 32 European tourists were kidhapped by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, later renamed Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in February 2003.
air strikes on the BP gas plant seized by al-Qaeda-linked terrorists, militants said. Soldiers from the Saharan state attacked the gas field where dozens of Westerners including Britons and Americans were being held in revenge for France's assault on al-Qaeda rebels in neighbouring Mali.
Helicopters began strafing the plant this morning, hours after the rebels
had threatened to blow up the hostages if they intervened. Fifteen kidnappers, who had semtex strapped to their vests, were also reportedly killed at the Amenas field, deep in the Saharan south east of the country. Terrorist orchestrator Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Islamist known as The Uncatchable, is believed to be among them.
A spokesman for the Masked Brigade, which had earlier claimed responsibility
for the assault said Abou El Baraa, the leader of the kidnappers, was also killed in the helicopter attack. The information came from the Nouakchott Information Agency, which has often carried reports from al-Qaida-linked extremist groups. The militant spokesman said the kidnappers were attacked by Algerian helicopters when they attempted to leave the complex.
The Algerian government would not immediately comment on the standoff and the Associated Press was not able to independently confirm the information. The reports came as the family of an Irishman being held have made a desperate plea for his release. Earlier, 25 foreign hostages, including Americans and two Japanese, were said to have escaped from their captors.
The development came after it emerged British hostages being held with up to 45 other foreign nationals and up to 150 Algerians have been forced to wear explosive belts. Sources claimed that two UK nationals had already been killed in the attack by around 20 al-Qaeda militants. While some 30 Algerian workers are said to have also escaped, some of the western hostages are said to be primed to explode if the authorities intervene.
An Algerian security source said the gunmen, who stormed the gas facility on Wednesday, were also demanding safe passage out with their captives. One hostage, identified as British, spoke to Al Jazeera television and called on the Algerian army to withdraw from the area to avoid casualties. 'We are receiving care and good treatment from the kidnappers. The (Algerian) army did not withdraw and they are firing at the camp,' the man said.
'We say to everybody that negotiations is a sign of strength and will spare many any loss of life,' he said, adding that there were about 150 Algerian hostages in custody. Another hostage, identified as Irish, told the Qatar-based channel: 'The situation is deteriorating. We have contacted the embassies and we call the Algerian army to withdraw... we are worried because of the continuation of the firing. Among the hostages are French, American, Japanese, British, Norwegian and Irish.'
In what it said was a phone interview with one of the hostage takers, the Mauritanian news agency ANI said Algerian security forces had tried to approach the facility at dawn. 'We will kill all the hostages if the Algerian army try to storm the area,' it quoted the hostage-taker as saying. Algeria has not commented on reports its troops tried to approach.
Numbers of those held were unclear, but a group calling itself the 'Battalion of Blood' earlier said it seized 41 foreigners, including Americans, Japanese and Europeans, after storming a natural gas pumping station and employee barracks in Algeria before dawn on Wednesday. A number of Scots were are among the hostages being held in Algeria, First Minister Alex Salmond told MSPs today.
A third unidentified hostage who spoke to France 24 television said prisoners were being forced to wear explosive belts. Their captors were heavily armed and had threatened to blow up the base if the Algerian army tried to storm it. 'They attacked the two sites at the same time. They went inside, and once it was daylight they gathered everyone together,' the man, who sounded calm, said in the only part of the phone call the French broadcaster aired.
Meanwhile, Britain is allowing the Algerian government to take the lead in the ongoing
hostage
crisis and has received no requests for support, Downing Street said
today. Following a meeting of the British Government's emergency
response committee Cobra this morning, David Cameron said the right
approach was to continue working with the Algerian government.The Prime Minister has offered any assistance to Algerian counterparts, but his spokesman said this had so far been refused. The Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'The nature and the extent of the attack suggests some considerable degree of pre-planning.' The Government was 'aware' of reports that the perpetrators claimed it was linked to events in Mali, but added: 'Nothing whatsoever justifies these appalling and criminal actions.'
Asked whether the SAS may be sent in, he said: 'We never comment on that sort of thing.' A Government source said: 'This is a situation where the Algerian government, understandably, very much sees itself as in the lead in its sovereign territory.' The Foreign Office was unable to confirm a report the 20 foreign hostages had escaped from their captors.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague earlier condemned the rebels as 'cold-blooded murderers' and said the government was working 'around the clock' to resolve the crisis. The rebels are now holding up to 45 foreign nationals, including many from the UK, in a compound linked to a BP gas facility on the Libyan border.
However, Algeria's official APS news agency reported today that 30 Algerian workers have managed to escape the site, but did not say how they eluded their captors. It is believed some 150 Algerian staff are also on site. They were being prevented from leaving, but were otherwise free to move around inside and keep on working.
Electricity inside the facility has been cut, but intercepted mobile phone traffic suggests that the attack was planned by Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Islamist known as Mr Marlboro and The Uncatchable. An Algerian diplomatic source said 'two British nationals and an Algerian' were believed to have been murdered, while others have been wounded. These figures were also reported by the Algerian news agency, DNA.
Mr Hague said Government is working 'around the clock' to end the siege in which a British national was killed and a number of other UK nationals are currently been held captive. A French security guard and an Algerian security guard are also reported to have been killed and several others injured when heavily armed terrorists from a group known as the ‘Blood Battalion’ stormed the In Amenas natural gas field in 4x4 cars.
The group yesterday claimed it was holding a total of 41 westerners - including seven Americans - in retaliation for the French military intervention against al-Qaeda-backed rebels in neighbouring Mali. Mr Hague said: 'Whatever excuse is being used by terrorists and murderers, there is no excuse. This is the cold-blooded murder of people going about their business.'
The Algerians officially refuse point blank to negotiate with terrorists, but there has been
telephone contact with the killers, said the diplomatic source. The
Algerian government is also in talks with the United States and France
over the possibility of bringing in an international force to break the
siege, unnamed security officials have claimed.All of the western hostages are thought to have been bound and gagged, and are being kept under close guard by the gunmen. Algerian forces were last night reported to have been surrounding the hostage-takers and negotiating for the release of their captives, but details of what was happening on the ground were sketchy.
British officials are urging caution on the Algerian military amid fears that they will launch a raid to rescue the hostages, a move that could lead to a bloodbath. The Foreign Secretary said the situation was 'extremely dangerous' and details could not be given out 'lightly'.
In particular, the Foreign Office has been unable to confirm a report by the Algeria state news agency that a British national was among two people killed in the attack on the In Amenas gas facility, which is part-controlled by BP, close to the Libyan border. Six others are said to have been wounded, including two foreigners, two police officers and two security agents.
'A number of people are held hostage. This does include a number of British nationals. This is therefore an extremely dangerous situation,' Mr Hague said. 'We are in close touch with the Algerian government, the Algerian military have deployed to the area and the Prime Minister has spoken to the prime minister of Algeria.
'We are liaising very closely with all levels of the Algerian government.'
He said that a rapid deployment team had been sent from the Foreign Office to reinforce British embassy and consular staff in Algeria. The Government's emergency response committee Cobra, which met yesterday, would have further meetings. We will give more details as it becomes possible to do so but obviously it is a very dangerous situation and we cannot give out details very lightly. We will keep people informed,' he said.
Mr Hague said BP was doing 'a good job' keeping the loved ones and families of those involved in the incident up to date. 'The safety of those involved and their co-workers is our absolute priority and we will work around the clock to resolve this crisis,' he added.
Downing Street said Prime Minister David Cameron 'expressed his sympathy and support' when he spoke to his counterpart Abdelmalek Sellal yesterday evening. They agreed to keep in touch as the situation progresses,' a spokeswoman said.
The Irish government said a 36-year-old Irishman was among the hostages. He was believed to be unharmed. The Algerian interior ministry said the attack began when three vehicles carrying heavily-armed-militants ambushed a bus carrying employees from the gas plant to the nearby airport. Initially they were driven off, but they then headed for the main complex.
'After their failed attempt, the terrorist group headed to the complex's living quarters and took a number of workers with foreign nationalities hostage,' an interior ministry statement 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.'
Belmokhtar's gang uses a number of names including Khaled Abul Abbas Brigade, the Masked Ones and The Blood Battalion, and is linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The militant group Katibat Moulathamine - 'The Masked Ones' - yesterday contacted a news agency in the Saharan state of Mauritania to claim that the raid was carried out by an affiliate group, identified as 'Those who sign their names in blood'.
After dark, ANI quoted a militant source saying fighters had repelled a raid by Algerian troops. He added that the hostage-takers' weaponry included mortars and anti-aircraft missiles.
'We hold the Algerian government and the French government and the countries of the hostages fully responsible if our demands are not met and it is up to them to stop the brutal aggression against our people in Mali,' read one statement from the group.
The group's claim could not be independently substantiated.
A spokesman for the Katibat told the Sahara Media Agency that 41 Westerners of nine or 10 nationalities had been taken hostage, including seven Americans.
Five foreigners were being held in a factory, while 36 others were in living quarters at the plant, claimed the spokesman, who said the action was carried out in retaliation for Algeria allowing France to use its airspace to carry out raids on northern Mali.
Britain has provided two RAF C-17 transport aircraft to support the operation as well as offering to share intelligence with Paris.
The In Amenas facility is jointly operated by BP, the Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach.
BP said in a statement that there was 'an ongoing security incident' in the gas field, which was 'attacked and occupied by a group of unidentified armed people' at about 5am UK time.
'Contact with the site is extremely difficult, but we understand that armed individuals are still occupying the In Amenas operations site,' the statement said.
'Our absolute priority is the safety and security of our staff. We do not yet have confirmed information on the status of personnel at the site but believe some are being held by the occupiers.'
Statoil said that it had 20 employees in the facility. The Norwegian Newspaper Bergens Tidende reported that a 55-year-old Norwegian working on the site called his wife to say he was among the hostages.
The Japanese government said Japanese employees working for a company which supplies services to the site may also have been kidnapped.
The attack happened as EU foreign ministers were preparing to meet tomorrow in Brussels to discuss plans to send a 400-strong military training mission to Mali.
All of the victims were on a bus in the south of the country near the town of Ain Amenas, which is in the south east of the former French colony, close to the Libyan border.
A gang of terrorists brandishing machine guns, rocket launchers and grenades opened fire soon after dawn, halting the bus and then moving into the In Amenas gas installation.
The rebels were said to be holding all the hostages inside the plant, which is now surrounded with mines, with the terrorists threatening to detonate them if security forces intervene, said an Algerian diplomatic source based in Paris.
There were some reports last night that semtex explosives were strapped to some of the hostages.
The source confirmed that the facility was ‘in the hands of the terrorists’ who had demanded the release of 100 Islamists held in Algeria, and that everything was being done to capture them and to free the hostages.
Britain has Special Forces and other military personnel in the region and commanders were drawing-up emergency contingency plans for a potential rescue if the situation worsens.
It is understood that the possibility of military action was discussed by the UK, but Algerian officials made clear that they would prefer to resolve the crisis themselves.
But US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said America ‘will take all necessary and proper steps’ to deal with the ‘very serious matter’.
Hundreds of Algerians work at the plant and were taken in the attack, but the state news agency reported that they have gradually been released, unharmed and in small groups, by the late afternoon.
Typically there would be fewer than 20 foreign staff members on site on a typical day, along with hundreds of Algerian employees.
Many hostages were believed to have been on their way to Ain Amenas airport, from where there are regular flights to Gatwick airport.
Gatwick-based company Jet Air is among those who have now suspended their flights from the UK to southern Algeria.
The British worker and a French security guard are thought to have died in a fire fight after the Algerian Army deployed troops at the scene.
Downing Street said that it was 'too early to speculate' on the motive for the attack, or whether it was linked to French support - backed by the UK - for Mali's government in its fight against Islamist forces which have occupied the north of the country.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that a number of Americans are among the 41 hostages, but declined to give names or other details about them 'in order to protect their safety'.
The U.S. embassy in Algiers had issued an emergency message to other U.S. nationals in the country urging them to 'review their security'.
Countries including France and Britain have been on heightened terrorist alert since French forces went into action in Mali on Friday.
In a statement, BP said the site was 'attacked and occupied by a group of unidentified armed people,' and some of its personnel are believed to be 'held by the occupiers.'
The number and identities of the hostages was still unclear, but Ireland announced that a 36-year-old married Irish man was among them, while Japan and Britain said their citizens were involved as well.
A Norwegian woman said her husband called her saying he had been taken hostage.
Six others were wounded in the attack, including two foreigners, two police officers and two security agents, Algeria's state news agency reported.
The French catering company CIS has 150 Algerian employees being held at the site, but they are being allowed ‘to move around freely, unlike the foreign hostages who are trapped in a corner and cannot move,’ said a spokesman.
There are fears that the new front in the war against terror could prompt further Islamist revenge attacks on Western targets, especially in Africa, where Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb operates across borders in the Sahara desert.
French President Francois Hollande launched the surprise operation in its former West African colony on Friday, with hopes of stopping al-Qaida-linked and other Islamist extremists he believes pose a danger to the world.
The attack began with the ambush of a bus carrying employees from the gas plant to the nearby airport, but the attackers were driven off, according to the Algerian government, which said three vehicles of heavily armed men were involved.
'After their failed attempt, the terrorist group headed to the complex's living quarters and took a number of workers with foreign nationalities hostage,' said the statement, adding that authorities were following the situation very closely.
Attacks on oil-rich Algeria's hydrocarbon facilities are very rare, despite decades of fighting an Islamist insurgency, mostly in the north of the country.
In the last several years, however, al-Qaeda's influence in the poorly patrolled desert wastes of southern Algeria and northern Mali and Niger has grown and it operates smuggling and kidnapping networks throughout the area.
Militant groups that seized control of northern Mali already hold seven French hostages as well as four Algerian diplomats.
The natural gas field where the attack occurred, however, is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the Mali border, though it is just 60 miles (100 kilometers) from Libya's deserts.
BP, together with Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil company, Sonatrach, operate the gas field. A Japanese company, JGC Corp, provides services for the facility as well.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the kidnapped foreigners possibly include Japanese employees of JGC.
'We are certain that JGC is the one affected,' Suga said, adding that the government is now negotiating with local officials through diplomatic channels, asking for safety first to protect the lives of the Japanese nationals
Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told Algerian counterpart, Mourad Medelci, during telephone talks late Wednesday that he was gravely concerned about the development, and called the abductions 'unacceptable.'
'I asked (Algeria) to place top priority on the lives of the Japanese and others who have been captured,' he said.
Statoil said that it has 20 employees in the facility. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said it could not confirm that any Norwegian citizens had been abducted.
The Norwegian Newspaper Bergens Tidende, however, said a 55-year-old Norwegian working on the site called his wife to say he had been abducted.
Algeria had long warned against military intervention against the rebels in northern Mali, fearing the violence could spill over its own long and porous border.
Though its position softened slightly after Hollande visited Algiers in December, Algerian authorities remain skeptical about the operation and worried about its consequences on the region.
Algeria is Africa's biggest country, and has been an ally of the U.S. and France in fighting terrorism for years.
But its relationship with France has been fraught with lingering resentment over colonialism and the bloody war for independence that left Algeria a free country 50 years ago.
Algeria's strong security forces have struggled for years against Islamist extremists, and have in recent years managed to nearly snuff out violence by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb around its home base in northern Algeria. In the meantime, AQIM moved its focus southward.
AQIM has made tens of millions of dollars off kidnapping in the region, abducting Algerian businessmen or political figures for ransom and sometimes foreigners.
The In Amenas attack was the first of its kind in Algeria since 32 European tourists were kidhapped by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, later renamed Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), in February 2003.
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