Algerian security officials say two people have been killed and several foreigners abducted in an attack on a gas facility near In Amenas in the east of the country.

Islamist militants allied to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) say they carried out the attack.

They claim to have seized six people. Their nationalities are unclear.

The oil giant BP says a gas field it runs in partnership with Norwegians and Algerians was attacked.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21042659

BREAKING NEWS: Qaeda-linked group claims to have 41 hostages, including 7 Americans, in raid on Algerian gas plant: Mauritanian media

no link yet

Islamist militants claimed Tuesday they were holding 41 Western hostages at an Algerian gas field, according to an AFP report.

Earlier, reports suggested Islamists kidnapped nine foreigners and killed two people including a French national during a dawn raid on a gas production field in southern Algeria.

Algerian forces caught up with and surrounded the kidnappers and negotiations for the release of the hostages are ongoing, an Algerian official told AP. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

A group called the Katibat Moulathamine, or the Masked Brigade, called a Mauritanian news outlet to say they had carried out the operation on the Ain Amenas gas field, taking six hostages - three Norwegians, a Briton and an American. The Algerian official said earlier the kidnapped included people of English, Japanese and Norwegian nationality.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/16/260799.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/algeria/9806305/Briton-killed-and-40-BP-workers-held-hostage-in-Algeria-attack.html

Ugh

Additional story.

An Al Qaeda-linked group from Mali have attacked and taken control of a natural gas field partly owned by BP in southern Algeria, killing two and reportedly taking 41 people hostage, including seven Americans.

A group called the Katibat Moulathamine, or the Masked Brigade, called a Mauritanian news outlet to say one of its subsidiaries had carried out the operation on the Ain Amenas gas field, taking 41 hostages from nine or 10 different nationalities.

The U.S. embassy in Algiers said in a statement it wasn't "aware of any U.S. citizen casualties," but sources tell Fox News at least three Americans may be among the hostages.

The group's claim could not be independently substantiated and typically there would be fewer than 20 foreign staff members on site on a typical day, along with hundreds of Algerian employees.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/16/islamist-militants-from-mali-reportedly-kidnap-8-foreigners-at-algerian-gas-1052027220/

Military adventures have unintended consequences.

...and they blamed the Algerian government for helping the French.

But other than that, yeah.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday the U.S. "will take all necessary and proper steps" to deal with an Islamist attack on a natural gas field in southern Algeria that has resulted in Americans and other foreigners taken hostage.

Panetta would not detail what such steps might be after what he called a "terrorist attack."

A militant group that claimed responsibility says it's holding seven Americans, but State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said she wouldn't provide details to protect those who were kidnapped.

Militants said they attacked and occupied the field partly operated by the energy company BP because of Algeria's support of France's operation against al-Qaida-linked Malian rebels groups to the southeast.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-confirms-americans-taken-after-algeria-attack

... is the stock market quotes on the bottom. Yes, that puts it all in proper perspective.

-- Mal

since any update posted separaretly is considered a duplicate and got locked.

Update:
British national 'killed after kidnapping at Algeria gas plant'
State media reports second fatality in militant attack on a natural gas complex in the desert
http://www.independent.co.uk/?CMP=ILC-refresh