Algeria scouring Sahara for 5 missing foreigners after military assault
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Algerian firemen carry a coffin containing a person killed during the gas facility hostage situation at the morgue in Ain Amenas, Algeria, on Monday, Jan 21, 2013. At least 81 people have been reported dead, including 32 Islamist militants, after a bloody, four-day hostage situation at Algeria's remote Ain Amenas natural gas plant. Algerian forces are scouring the Sahara desert for five foreigners missing since Islamist militants attacked a remote natural gas plant, an official said on Tuesday. -- PHOTO: AP
ALGIERS (AP) - Algerian forces are scouring the Sahara desert for five foreigners missing since Islamist militants attacked a remote natural gas plant, an official said on Tuesday.
An Al-Qaeda-affiliated band of fighters attacked the vast natural gas complex on Wednesday, killing 37 hostages, including an Algerian security guard, in a four-day standoff that ended after Algerian special forces stormed the plant.
"Are they dead? Did they attempt to flee the site after the attack like some other expatriates? Are they lost in the desert after taking a wrong turn?" said the official, who is a member of Prime Minister Abdemalek Sellal's office.
"These are all questions we ask ourselves."
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