January 21, 2013

On January 19, Algerian forces launched a final assault on the BP (British Petroleum) natural gas field in the Sahara Desert seized by Islamist terrorists on January 16. According to the Algerian government, the assault was made after officers received a report that the hostage-takers were killing their captives. In all, 37 foreign workers died during the four-day hostage crisis, including 9 Japanese, 6 Filipinos, 3 Britons, and 3 Americans; 32 of the militants were killed, and 3 were captured alive. A number of the hostages remain unaccounted for.

The Algerian government staged an initial military assault on the plant on January 17, during which helicopter gunships bombed four trucks carrying both terrorists and captives. BP officials in London simultaneously announced that hundreds of workers from international oil companies were being evacuated from Algeria.

The Islamists initially took some 130 people of 9 nationalities hostage. The group that claimed responsibility for the attack, Al Mulathameen, issued a statement to Mauritanian news outlets that foreign citizens were explicitly targeted. The terrorists claimed the attack was made in retaliation for French intervention against the militant Islamist group al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in neighboring Mali. (The Maghreb refers to all of northwest Africa west of Egypt.) The Algerian government disputes this claim, stating that the attacks had been planned weeks before France first deployed troops in Mali on January 12. (French troops are fighting alongside Malian soldiers, attempting to push back AQIM fighters bent on seizing the entire country.)

Algeria is a major producer of petroleum and natural gas. (AP/Wide World)

At the core of the Islamist insurgency in the region are the remnants of a now-defunct Algerian rebel group that was largely driven out of Algeria and into the unpoliced desert land in northern Mali sometime after the Algerian civil war was settled in 1999. AQIM, a loose alliance of Algerian and Mauritanian fighters, aims to overthrow the Algerian government and establish an Islamic state under Shar’iah law. The group operates in Algeria, Mauritania, Niger, and other ungoverned areas of the Sahel region. The insurgents are known for their extreme cruelty and barbarity.

Additional World Book articles:

• Algeria 1991 (a Back in Time article)
• Algeria 1992 (a Back in Time article)
• Algeria 1999 (a Back in Time article)