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Algeria Hostage Standoff Over: 32 Militants and 23 Hostages Killed
A freed Algerian hostage arrives at Algiers airport after he was released by Islamist captors, alongside other Algerians, from a gas plant in Ain Amenas, more than 1,600 kilometers from the capital, on Jan. 18, 2013. More than 72 hours after the heavily-armed militants staged a deadly raid on the complex, and two days after Algerian special forces launched a botched rescue bid widely condemned as hasty, there appeared to be a stand-off in the Sahara. (Getty Images)
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 remain 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.
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.
Algeria has fought its own Islamist rebellion since the 1990s, elements of which later declared allegiance to al-Qaida and then set up new groups in the poorly patrolled wastes of the Sahara along the borders of Niger, Mali, Algeria and Libya, where they flourished.
The standoff has put the spotlight on these al-Qaida-linked groups that roam these remote areas, threatening vital infrastructure and energy interests. The militants initially said their operation was intended to stop a French attack on Islamist militants in neighboring Mali – though they later said it was two months in the planning, long before the French intervention.
The militants, who came from a Mali-based al-Qaida splinter group run by an Algerian, attacked the plant Wednesday morning. Armed with heavy machine guns and rocket launchers in four-wheel drive vehicles, they fell on a pair of buses taking foreign workers to the airport. The buses’ military escort drove off the attackers in a blaze of gunfire that sent bullets zinging over the heads of crouching workers. A Briton and an Algerian – probably a security guard – were killed.
The militants then turned to the vast gas complex, divided between the workers’ living quarters and the refinery itself, and seized hostages, the Algerian government said. The gas flowing to the site was cut off.
Saturday’s government statement said the militants came across the border from “neighboring countries,” while the militants said they came from Niger, hundreds of miles (kilometers) to the south.
On Thursday, Algerian helicopters kicked off the military’s first assault on the complex by opening fire on a convoy carrying both kidnappers and their hostages to stop them from escaping, resulting in many deaths, according to witnesses.
The accounts of hostages who escaped the standoff showed they faced dangers from both the kidnappers and the military.
Ruben Andrada, 49, a Filipino civil engineer who works as one of the project management staff for the Japanese company JGC Corp., described how he and his colleagues were used as human shields by the kidnappers, which did little to deter the Algerian military.
On Thursday, about 35 hostages guarded by 15 militants were loaded into seven SUVs in a convoy to move them from the housing complex to the refinery, Andrada said. The militants placed “an explosive cord” around their necks and were told it would detonate if they tried to run away, he said.
“When we left the compound, there was shooting all around,” Andrada said, as Algerian helicopters attacked with guns and missiles. “I closed my eyes. We were going around in the desert. To me, I left it all to fate.”
Andrada’s vehicle overturned allowing him and a few others to escape. He sustained cuts and bruises and was grazed by a bullet on his right elbow. He later saw the blasted remains of other vehicles, and the severed leg of one of the gunmen.
The site of the gas plant spreads out over several hectares (acres) and includes a housing complex and the processing site, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) apart, making it especially complicated for the Algerians to secure the site and likely contributed to the lengthy standoff.
“It’s a big and complex site. It’s a huge place with a lot of people there and a lot of hiding places for hostages and terrorists,” said Col. Richard Kemp, a retired commander of British forces who had dealt with hostage rescues in Iraq and Afghanistan. “These are experienced terrorists holding the hostages.”
While the Algerian government has only admitted to 23 hostages dead so far, the militants claimed through the Mauritanian news website ANI that the helicopter attack alone killed 35 hostages.
One American, from Texas, is among the dead.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Saturday that a Frenchman killed, Yann Desjeux, was a former member of the French special forces and part of the security team. The remaining three French nationals who were at the plant are now free, the Foreign Ministry said.
The British government said Saturday it is trying to determine the fate of six people from Britain who are either dead or unaccounted for.
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain said, “There is no justification for taking innocent life in this way. Our determination is stronger than ever to work with allies right around the world to root out and defeat this terrorist scourge and those who encourage it.”
The Norwegian government said there were five Norwegians unaccounted for.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta said Saturday one Romanian hostage was killed in the course of the siege, while the Malaysian government said two of its citizens were still missing.
The attack by the Masked Brigade, founded by Algerian militant Moktar Belmoktar, had been in the works for two months, a member of the brigade told the ANI news outlet. He said militants targeted Algeria because they expected the country to support the international effort to root out extremists in neighboring Mali and it was carried out by a special commando unit, “Those Who Signed in Blood,” tasked with attacking nations supporting intervention in Mali.
The kidnappers focused on the foreign workers, largely leaving alone the hundreds of Algerian workers who were briefly held hostage before being released or escaping.
Several of them arrived haggard-looking on a late-night flight into Algiers on Friday and described how the militants stormed the living quarters and immediately separated out the foreigners.
Mohamed, a 37-year-old nurse who like the others wouldn’t allow his last name to be used for fear of trouble for himself or his family, said at least five people were shot to death, their bodies still in front of the infirmary when he left Thursday night.
Chabane, an Algerian who worked in food services, said he bolted out the window and was hiding when he heard the militants speaking among themselves with Libyan, Egyptian and Tunisian accents. At one point, he said, they caught a Briton.
“They threatened him until he called out in English to his friends, telling them, `Come out, come out. They’re not going to kill you. They’re looking for the Americans,’” Chabane said.
“A few minutes later, they blew him away.”
This post has been updated.
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Comments (100)
neverending
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 1:55pmMaybe the obama administration still has it in for BP?
Report this comment
felixkatt
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 6:13pmI think the &%$@* has done as much to BP as possible.
I thought it was interesting that no movie was associated with the Algerian massacre
Report this comment
IndyGuy
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 6:25pmAlgeria does not negotiate with terrorists….Obama on the other hand puts them in power…
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SendTheMeteors
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 11:56pmThe dead? Obama’s fault. Isn’t all this foreign policy stuff so simple? I think so. If something bad happens, it’s President Obama’s fault. When good things happen it’s due to, uh, Romney. Or Reagan. Somebody Republican. Bush maybe.
Report this comment
Pontiaku
Posted on January 20, 2013 at 12:07am[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.”]
IOW spineless French politicians didn’t want the blame for this fiasco and kept their forces out of it.
Report this comment
FstEti
Posted on January 20, 2013 at 12:42am@ SENDTHEMETEORS, you are either very young, very stupid, or so amazingly blinded by the bright aura emanating from the President that you are unable to remember how everything that happened to anyone, anywhere, was a direct result of “that idiot Bush”. What in the article or in the comments preceding yours, blamed Obama for anything that happened in Algeria? Just curious.
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JohnofOregon
Posted on January 20, 2013 at 1:36ammmmmmm,
looks like another obama foriegn policy success. elsewhere we now have not one but 2 pow’s and several other countries holding hostages but the obama media doesn’t even want to talk about it. If this was even carter in power the press would be calling for his head.
at least o’rielly got the marine out of the mexican prison after obama ignored it for 4 months.
4 months – state department = nothing
5 days- bill o’rielly gets him out…what the hell is wrong with that picture.
Report this comment
Walkabout
Posted on January 20, 2013 at 11:15amIt is Obama’s fault.
He said Al Qaeda was dead or at worst a shell of its’ former self & no longer a player. Usama told the jihadis that hostage negotiation would go thru Al Qaeda & not be done locally. the jihadis complied.
Obama has violated a key rile of the incompetent. Never stay in a job too long in a job. Because if you do so your bad policies catch up to you. You see incompetent people all the time in the corporate world flitting from job to job one step ahead of disaster. It is only going to get worse. Enjoy :)
P.S. did you know what the GIA was in the 1990s or at least by 2002?
Report this comment
the-most-interesting-troll-in-the-world
Posted on January 20, 2013 at 3:10pmI don’t often type up knee-jerk, drive-by, insubstantial commentary; but when I do, I prefer to ensure my American English spelling and grammar are at least up to par with the level seen in any 6th grade class found in a Washington, DC public school.
Stay inarticulate, my friends.
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IndyGuy
Posted on January 20, 2013 at 9:01pmDC should be D.C. …..
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Gildersleeve
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 1:45pmBomb Mecca and lets end this crap once and for all.
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PROUD_2B_American
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 3:43pmObama would NEVER bomb the holiest place on earth TO HIM
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Metalstr8jckt
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 7:07pmBreaking News….American firm to build World’s largest solar energy collector. DATELINE: Location; Mecca, Medina. AP Wire services
Owens -Corning announced that it was in the last stages of construction of a Terra surface glass collector of “epic proportions.” The collector is designed to gather solar energy in a “Just announced” technological manufacturing breakthrough. “It will be produced mainly from local materials on site.”
Covering several dozen square miles each, The two collectors, comprised of fine middle eastern sand are awaiting the the final heating process. Washington DOE officials say the collectors construction in conjunction with a private company will be a cost saver in many ways.
Air force and Navy Commanders are receiving the final codes necessary to “flash” the sand.
A crew of thousands of Latin American’s have secured positions as polishers on the surface of the collectors after their three week cooling process. Shock and awe will ensue at the initial manufacturing display. Locals from miles around are expected to halt most activities.
Owens-Corning officials wanted to thank their partnering physicists at Los Alamos for the new ultra- low half life residual tech in it’s newest “High yield,” heating elements. We foresee very little residual radiation.
Clean-fission Hydrogen technology was the innovating factor.
Reporting by: J. Killroy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. AP Wire Service. 2013
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226crimsontrace
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:42pmCan you hear the whole world laughing? It sounds like it did in 1979, with carter in charge. Though I think our allies are laughing now too. Thanks DUMBOMA
Report this comment
Wolf
Posted on January 20, 2013 at 9:41am“…Gildersleeve
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 1:45pm
Bomb Mecca and lets end this crap once and for all…”
Yah, right. Just what this country needs: another foreign war it has neither the desire nor ability to win.
Report this comment
Gladileftcalifornia
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 1:30pmSpecial forces? Sounds more like the BATF.
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oudbob
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 2:08pmAre you old enough to remember Jimmah Carter? This is what happens when these progressive creeps get into office.
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Wolf
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 6:20pmI’m thinking the Spec Forces used were Algerian, not American. Not that it makes a lot of difference, since I’d be willing to bet the hostages were probably dead prior to the attack or very shortly after the opening.
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Noah_fing-whey
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 1:08pmHeckuva job, Hillary!
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db321
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 1:37pmWhere is the link to the Video that caused this – How come Obama did not declare troops to Stand Down. I’m so confused, someone please tell me the difference between the good Muslim extremest that Obama will protect and the ones that Obama will send America’s best to take out. Is it the way they wear the towel on their head. I’m starting to think that Obama only protects the Gay ones – just saying.
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Walkabout
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 4:48pmBlaze is fine. but there are specialized sites on this sort of thing.
On Belmokhtar’s group: ‘They believe the West is one great Sodom and Gomorrah’
http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2013/01/they_believe_the_west_is_one_g.php#ixzz2ISbsV200
Nigerien jihadist identified as commander of Algerian hostage operation
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/01/nigerien_jihadist_id.php#ixzz2ISc3YNWR
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PROUD_2B_American
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 1:04pmGlenn
I know this off topic, but it might be interesting to check out who called the National Guard to Washington DC
I saw a news clip, showing over 10,000 National Guard troops positioning themselves around DC for the coronation. Oh sorry, inauguration, my bad
The story said the troops were called in by the White House. That isn’t allowed under the Posse Comitatus act. As far as I remember, only the Governor of the state or a surrounding state is authorized to that.
Sorry if I missed that story or info somewhere. Would be nice to know.
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db321
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 2:04pmHey Proud,
Those Military Troops that Obama is lining up now have the Authority under the Consitution to arrest anyone apposing Obama after Thursday vote to eliminate the 2nd amendment – what, you did not here about – Judge Neapolitano on Fox news reported about it once on Friday.
1st Amendment is history. Here is the Friday Fox News Clip that nobody is reporting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKjy0PDlKV4&feature=youtu.be
Want to bet that there will be 100′s arrest on Monday. My head exploded after I watched the video.
Report this comment
starview
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 2:23pmThis will be enforced by the Secret Service??? That is STRANGE! And a felony charge no less, gee, this is a sad day. Guess, no more hecklers when Barry is speaking!
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PROUD_2B_American
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 2:47pmWish I hadn’t asked…….. as I run for the aspirin ………….
This means, anywhere people are protesting, EVEN PEACEFULLY, if a secret service agent is there. OR SAID TO BE THERE, we’re in JAIL……. for a YEAR!
Obviously America is gone and they’re just sweeping up now. This explains why John Boehner is falling into line with all the other Republican cowards. They’ve been read the riot act and know where they stand. Which is nowhere.
Must be nice to find out you’re an elected official, of a country that doesn’t exist anymore.
Thanks for the info
Report this comment
PROUD_2B_American
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 2:57pmHEY
I HOPE FOX NEWS and the Blaze realize. If the Secret Service is posted outside their buildings, they fall under this law!
EVERYONE in their studios can be arrested.
HELLO GUYS……………………… !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HEY, how appropriate, the Secret Service… We’ll be taken down by OUR OWN SS. *sigh*
This can’t happen, because, there are no locations big enough to house this many prisoners. They’d have to build camps or something like that prior…. (yes sarcasm)
Report this comment
The-Monk
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 4:18pmHi db321,
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/03/05/former-agent-new-bill-effectively-outlaws-protests-anywhere-secret-service-deems-off-limits/
Report this comment
spfoam1
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 4:18pmLet me guess….only democrats, and probably all democrats, will have SS protection.
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DougHuffman
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:52pmIt’s amazing that the deaths occurred after the raid’s combat, ” …Hostages, … Militants Killed After … Raid.” Might such apparent reprisals be condemned?
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PROUD_2B_American
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:46pmI bet the site was a gun free zone……………… What do you bet?
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Walkabout
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 4:45pmI am sure the gas filed is owned by the Algerian government. They in all likelihood posted troops there. Apparently the troops got “owned”.
Next time I bet the Algerians increase the #of troops posted there.
But yeah if the civilian workers would have been armed it would have made any attack on the facility more problematic for the muj.
Report this comment
PROUD_2B_American
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:44pmI have never seen an American President act with so much indifference
WHAT, was this all to distracting, while preparing for his coronation?
Americans die in Benghazi and we run to microphone to blame a MOVIE. Americans are grabbed and held hostage in Algeria and we ……….. what, wait, I didn’t even see a concerned statement!
OR a threat to the terrorists to leave our citizens alone or risk retaliation. Or American troops moving to rescue them!
NO, I saw West Point come out and label US, conservatives, as terrorist!
I saw, law abiding gun owners, treated as criminals
Glenn SAID our paradigm was about to change. I would say, we’re experiencing it, right before our very eyes.
Report this comment
hatchetjob
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 2:10pmI enjoy Beck’s show (when they aren’t joking and laughing constantly), but he’s been saying that the paradigm is going to shift for years now. It’s like the little boy who cried wolf. I’m tired of waiting for the paradigm to shift.
Report this comment
Walkabout
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 4:25pmI enjoy Beck’s show (when they aren’t joking and laughing constantly),
***
Ditto
For another, I think Moron trivia has run its’ course for the time being.
Report this comment
soybomb315_II
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 5:18pmthe problem with moron trivia is that when they get it right, they STILL make fun of them
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Walkabout
Posted on January 20, 2013 at 11:17am“The problem with moron trivia is that when they get it right, they STILL make fun of them”
True, & Moron trivia is no longer funny.
Report this comment
woodyee
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:41pmWhere Is Their Leader?
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Chrisrob63
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 4:37pmFearless leader might be dead, but he probably was leading from behind, like other fearless leaders.
Like Quadaffi, who was supposedly caught dressed as a woman, when he attempted his advance in the other direction.
:-)
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yazoo
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:30pmNow it’s time to spread fear with this sort. Behead them, wrap their bodies in pork skins, and bury them where they will never be found. No virgins for you Ahboo.
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Chrisrob63
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 1:23pmYou got that right.
We need to let the muslims terrorists know, during the one-time negotiation: Surrender or you will die by bullets dipped in pig blood. Your bodies will lay in the open for a week, and what the vultures and scavengers don’t get, will be fed to the pigs. They literally will be buried inside a pig’s skin.
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missdagnytaggart
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:28pmThought we weren’t supposed to say “Islamist” anymore.
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raderby
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 11:56ambe it the french “mil spots” or the algerian messy mils… bad show all around.
Next lesson:
do not work in ANY of the flea trap sandboxes over there, unless you are prepared to have the same, or WORSE, happen to you. No payday is worth it. Besides, you break your **** to build energy resources, and the MB will take it away from the company who owns it, just like Hugo Chavez did to Exxon. (and others). Then let your carefully built infrastructure rot.
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oldduffer
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 11:05amLibya? Now where have I heard that before? I remember now. Obama gave his buddies, the Muslim Brotherhood, a bunch of taxpayer monies to bribe them into being good little Democrat lackeys.
Guess it didn’t work.
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barber2
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 11:39amYes. Don’t you find it odd that our tax money is going to fuel the Arab Spring which , in turn, is fueled by the Islamic murdering , American- hating, anti-capitalists ( oh, now I see the Chicago radical connection ! )… just more of the Organizing For Action that the Obama crowd is noted for !
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XquisiteWretch
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:33pmThis just in: Obama calls the Algerian incident ‘Workplace Violence’ and not ‘Terrorism’
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barber2
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:55amRemember the Russian theater event ?
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 11:58amExactly, that is what I expected to happen here, these jihadists expected to go down fighting and to take as many opponents and hostages with them as they could.
Now we can expect Obama to speak words of praise and wonder for himself in ‘having rescued all of the hostages myself’ or akin to that, while condemning our nation and then behind the scenes seething at the failure of all the American hostages to have perished in the battle.
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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:39am.
Well that’s one way to end a hostage standoff. Just kill everybody………….
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Jarhead 88
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:56amI’m betting that’s exactly what they did too.
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Advection
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 11:13amIt’s called the “Obama Doctrine: Total annihilation and let Allah sort ‘me out”!
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Walkabout
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 4:36pmIt was the worst day for the hostage to be sure.
The jihadis did not fare so well. They failed as terrorists. People are not terrorized just pissed off except maybe in Washington D.C. ( you know of whom I speak). The casualties the muj are about to take will set them back quite a bit. We could grind them into the dust. Maybe the French & Algerians with some other African nations will. If not they will recruit & replace their losses & resume operations in a few years a their tempo.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/
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brigott
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:36amHow can they call those guys “terrorists” already? How do we know it wasn’t all a spontaneous response to a video?
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Letthebulletsfly
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:14pmI didn’t see them referred to as terrorists a single time. I saw militant, radical
militant, islamist militant, radicical islamist, everything but terrorists. AP story. Even Hillary called them terrorists. Guess AP didn’t get the memo.
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GO-FOR-LIBERTY
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 6:06pmBut—-but the war on terror is/was over. Heard that ‘somewhere’.
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PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:36amInteresting take on this terrorist story at http://www.debka.com
Some of these same terrorists are the ones sent suicide bombers to EU 7 years ago. 0 had NO ships in the area to rescue the Americans…..More Americans die and no help from our country.
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Gonzo
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:27amIf I’m ever held hostage, please don’t send the Algerian Special Forces to rescue me.
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stopprintn
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:39am“Iron fist” is the best defence against jihadists. Could be wrong, but I don’t think so.
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judyaz
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:25amIs there any doubt now to the link between Egypt’s President, Mohammad Morsi, of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda? Both are demanding the U.S. to release the “Blind Shiek.”
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civilwarcometh
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:44amAnd both time’s they’ve tried to kidnap an american obama has sat back and watched.
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JoanofAmerica
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 11:15amA 2nd failed attempt! We need an end to this corruption and now! We need a hero in DC to step forward with a tell all. America WILL back you. Hilary? Gen Petraeus?
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Shasta
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:00amWell at least OBlamo will find it more difficult to release the blind shake now, as it will look like nothing more than appeasement to terrorists.
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civilwarcometh
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:25amYou think obama cares what the american people think LOL.
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piper60
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:37amLets release the old bastard out the side door of a blackhawk- at 15,000 feet.
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stopprintn
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:00amGood job Algeria, now if our light weight leaders had half a clue, C130s should be pounding the crap out of some terrorist camps in Libya on monday. Matter of fact they should have been pounded on 9/12/12.
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DougHuffman
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 9:57amRead Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.
http://www.amazon.com/Clash-Civilizations-Remaking-World-Order/dp/0684844419
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_Civilizations
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progressiveslayer
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 9:54amWe have more natural gas here in Amerika than any other country on earth that won’t be exploited as long as we have politicians in power who believe in the folly of so called ‘green energy’.
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Gonzo
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:17amOur own government is holding ours hostage. Send in the special ops.
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:02pmExactly, the matter here is that compared to Obama, who would still be ‘unaware’ of the matter if it happened with only American hostages, the Albanian forces acted with a fair degree of swiftness, and decisive action considering the terrorists had no intention of letting them go (remember the Russian theater?)
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Jezreel
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 9:48amIt seems that they want certain terrorists released in exchange for hostages. This is what they wanted to do at Ben Ghazi but it went all wrong and they were not expecting our seals to “stand down” and it didn’t go the way they wanted it to. They would have kidnapped the Ambassador in exchange for the blind skiek. Everything went wrong and in anger, they sodomized and killed the abassador. This is why it is such a cover up. “You know who” was in on it the whole time and this is why you cannot get a straight answer or any honesty in the investigation.
This time, it seems to have worked. We have lost Americans and other hostages so that they can have the blind shiek. Right now, the state department is pretended and saying that they will not work with terrorists but we know how Obama says one thing and does another.
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 9:35amGod be with the families of the dead hostages, and thank to the Father for the rescue of the remaining hostages.
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civilwarcometh
Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:17amChabane, who worked in food services, said he bolted out the window and was hiding when he heard the militants speaking among themselves with Libyan, Egyptian and Tunisian accents. At one point, he said, they caught a Briton.
“They threatened him until he called out in English to his friends, telling them, `Come out, come out. They’re not going to kill you. They’re looking for the Americans,’” Chabane said.
“A few minutes later, they blew him away.”
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