Published : Jan. 20, 2013 - 10:08
Residents of Ain Amenas, Algeria, gather outside the hospital trying to get information concerning relatives wounded during the terrorist attack at the gas plant, Jan. 18, 2013. (AP)
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) In a bloody finale, Algerian special forces stormed a natural gas complex in the Sahara desert on Saturday to end a standoff with Islamist extremists that left at least 23 hostages dead and killed all 32 militants involved, the Algerian government said.
With few details emerging from the remote site in eastern Algeria, it was unclear whether anyone was rescued in the final operation, but the number of hostages killed on Saturday seven was how many the militants had said that morning they still had. The government described the toll as provisional and some foreigners remained unaccounted for.
The siege at Ain Amenas transfixed the world after radical Islamists linked to al-Qaida stormed the complex, which contained hundreds of plant workers from all over the world, then held them hostage surrounded by the Algerian military and its attack helicopters for four tense days that were punctuated with gun battles and dramatic tales of escape.
Algeria’s response to the crisis was typical of its history in confronting terrorists, favoring military action over negotiation, which caused an international outcry from countries worried about their citizens. Algerian military forces twice assaulted the two areas where the hostages were being held with minimal apparent mediation first on Thursday, then on Saturday.
"To avoid a bloody turn of events in response to the extreme danger of the situation, the army’s special forces launched an intervention with efficiency and professionalism to neutralize the terrorist groups that were first trying to flee with the hostages and then blow up the gas facilities," Algeria’s Interior Ministry said in a statement about the standoff.
Immediately after the assault, French President Francois Hollande gave his backing to Algeria’s tough tactics, saying they were "the most adapted response to the crisis."
"There could be no negotiations" with terrorists, the French media quoted him as saying in the central French city of Tulle.
Hollande said the hostages were "shamefully murdered" by their captors, and he linked the event to France‘s military operation against al-Qaida-backed rebels in neighboring Mali. "If there was any need to justify our action against terrorism, we would have here, again, an additional argument," he said.
President Barack Obama said in a statement Saturday that the U.S. stood ready to provide whatever assistance was needed in the wake of the attack.
"This attack is another reminder of the threat posed by al-Qaida and other violent extremist groups in North Africa. In the coming days, we will remain in close touch with the Government of Algeria to gain a fuller understanding of what took place so that we can work together to prevent tragedies like this in the future," the statement said.
In New York, the U.N. Security Council issued a statement condemning the militants’ terrorist attack and said all perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of such "reprehensible acts" must be brought to justice.
In the final assault, the remaining band of militants killed the hostages before 11 of them were in turn cut down by the special forces, Algeria‘s state news agency said. The military launched its Saturday assault to prevent a fire started by the extremists from engulfing the complex and blowing it up, the report added.
A total of 685 Algerian and 107 foreigner workers were freed over the course of the four-day standoff, the ministry statement said, adding that the group of militants that attacked the remote Saharan natural gas complex consisted of 32 men of various nationalities, including three Algerians and explosives experts.
The military also said it confiscated heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, missiles and grenades attached to suicide belts.
Sonatrach, the Algerian state oil company running the Ain Amenas site along with BP and Norway’s Statoil, said the entire refinery had been mined with explosives, and that the process of clearing it out is now under way.
"알제리 인질 사망자 23명으로 집계"
알제리 천연가스 생산공장 인질 사태 해결을 위한 알제리 특수부대의 군사작전 과정에서 인질 23명이 사망한 것으로 잠정 집계됐다.
알제리 내무부는 19일(현지시간) 단행한 두 번째 이자 마지막 인질범 소탕 작전과정에서 인질범 11명과 이들의 보복으로 인질 7명이 각각 사망했다며 이같이 밝혔다.
이로써 인질범 사망자도 1차 작전때 수치까지 합치면 32명으로 늘었다고 내무부는 덧붙였다.
내무부는 이날 성명에서 알제리인 노동자 685명, 외국인 노동자 107명을 구출하고 현장에서 기관총, 로켓 발사대, 미사일, 수류탄도 압수했다고 전했다.
내부무는 또 무장세력은 알제리인 3명을 비롯한 다양한 국적인 32명으로 구성돼있었다고 밝혀 인질범들이 전원 사망했음을 시사했다.
이런 작전 수행에 대해 프랑수아 올랑드 프랑스 대통령은 (인질범들과) 협상이 불가능했기 때문에 가장 적절한 조치였다고 평가했다.
미국 리언 패네타 , 영국 필립 해먼드 국방장관도 이날 양자 회담 후 가진 브리핑에서 이번 작전에 대한 직접적 비난을 삼갔다.
패네타 장관은 각 국마다 나름대로 테러리즘에 대한 대처법을 갖고 있다면서 이것의 좋고 나쁨에 관해 판단하지 않겠다고 했고, 해먼드 장관은 지구적 위협 대처에서의 특징은 때때로 서로 다르게 대응하는 국민들이 함께 협력해 나간다는 것이라고했다. 두 언급 모두 작전의 불가피성을 인정한다는 뉘앙스로 비쳤다.
앞서 알 카에다와 연계된 이슬람 무장세력은 말리 내전에 프랑스가 군사 개입한 데 대한 보복 조치라고 주장하며 지난 16일 인아메나스의 천연가스 생산 시설에서 대규모 인질극을 벌였다.
이튿날인 17일 알제리 정부가 특수부대를 투입해 인질 구출 작전에 나섰으나 이 과정에서 인질범들과 함께 인질도 다수 사망하는 참극을 빚었다. (연합)