In Aménas hostage-taking

When in amenas hostage crisis in Algeria of a natural gas field were near on 16 January 2013, more than 100 international staff in the conveyors In Amenas , near the Libyan as border hostages held. The violent liberation of the hostages ended on January 19, 2013. The hostage-takers were an Islamist commando al-Muwaqqiʿūn bi-d-Dimāʾ , which the press initially attributed to the Al-Qaeda organization of the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI). The command was under the leadership of Mohamed el Amine Benchenab on behalf of Mochtar Belmochtar . The background to the Islamist action was that France is supporting Mali's armed forces in the fight against the militant Islamists from Azawad with the Opération Serval .

Investments

In Aménas

The plant on the Algerian wet natural gas field Tiguentourine near In Aménas in the Illizi province is around 60 km from the Libyan border. The field has been jointly exploited since 2006 by the Algerian state company Sonatrach , the British BP and the Norwegian Equinor (formerly Statoil ). The Japanese JGC Corporation provides technical support. In Aménas, Algeria produces around 9 billion standard cubic meters of gas annually, which is around 10 percent of the country's total production. The gas is transported via a pipeline to Hassi R'Mel near Ghardaia , from there to the Algerian coast and from there to Italy and Spain via an underwater pipeline or LNG tanker.

chronology

January 16

On January 16, 2013, the attack by 32 Islamist fighters began with the shelling of a shuttle bus accompanied by security forces, which was supposed to take employees of the gas field to In Amenas airport. Several people were killed, including a Briton.

At 6 a.m., terrorists attacked the facilities on the Algerian gas field Tigantourine .

According to information from the Mauritanian daily Al-Akhbar, it is a group that is الموقعون بالدماء / al-Muwaqqiʿūn bi-d-Dimāʾ calls, in German roughly: "those who sign with the blood". This group belonged to the Katībat al-Mulaththamīn (English: Masked Battalion), which is one of the oldest jihadist movements in the Sahara and was founded by Khaled Abu al-Abbas. The group occupied the facility without any significant resistance from the security personnel. The attackers switched off the gas supply and searched all rooms of the residential units for foreigners.

In addition to numerous Algerians, 41 foreign people, including 13 Norwegians, seven US citizens, two French and two British, were taken hostage in the facilities. The Algerian workers were rounded up in the facility's leisure building. The attackers threatened to blow up the conveyor facilities if the Algerian security forces start a rescue operation. "We hold the governments of Algeria and France and the hostages fully responsible for any delay in meeting our demands, the most important of which is the immediate cessation of the attack on our people in Mali," said the hostage-takers.

The hostage-takers also justified their action with the Algerian consent to overflights by French military aircraft to Mali as part of the Serval operation . Algerian soldiers made a first attempt at liberation and an exchange of fire broke out. Then the soldiers withdrew. The command also had heavy weapons and mortar shells.

A French hostage told France 24 that several hostages were being held in a mine- prepared building on a BP gas field. According to this statement, several hostages had been belted with explosives by the terrorists.

January 17th

On January 16, 2013, the Algerian armed forces attempted to end the hostage drama from the air using Mi-24D Hind attack helicopters . When the army helicopters attacked, the Algerian hostages panicked and broke out. According to the Irish hostage Stephen McFaul, the Islamists are also said to have released the Algerians. Over 100 Algerians, according to other sources 400 to 500 Algerians, were able to flee. The Islamist fighters were surprised by the air strike and some tried to escape with hostages in five all-terrain vehicles. Four off-road vehicles were destroyed by the Algerian air attack and several vehicle occupants were killed. An Algerian radio station reported that the attack helicopters attacked the terrorists when they got into two four-wheel drive vehicles with the hostages. According to the hostage-takers to the Mauritanian Internet news agency Agence Nouakchott d'Information (ANI), seven foreign hostages are believed to be alive after the first Algerian military action, including three Belgians, two Americans, one Japanese and one British. In addition, a spokesman for the hostage-takers threatened that if the Algerian army attacked another mission from the air and with ground troops and tried to gain access to the facilities, "all hostages" would be killed. Another Algerian attack allegedly took place against the fighters when they tried to take the hostages by bus to another part of the industrial facilities. The bus was attacked by helicopter gunships, in which 35 hostages and 14 hostage-takers were killed, including the leader of the first group Abu al Baraa. The Reuters news agency reported that six foreigners were killed and 25 escaped, including a French, two British, an Irish and a Kenyan. Eight of the Islamist hostage-takers were also killed, including, according to the ANI agency, Lamine Boucheneb (alias Taher), head of the Movement of the Sons of the Sahara for Islamic Justice; MSJI ).

After hours of fighting, the Algerian news agency APS falsely reported at 10 p.m. local time that the military operation against the Islamist kidnappers had ended.

In the meantime, the Algerian armed forces, which are also equipped with T-90 main battle tanks , have freed the residential buildings from the terrorists and surrounded the industrial facilities. Over 500 hostages were able to be brought to safety, including people who had previously hidden in the residential complexes during the two days.

According to information from the Reuters news agency, a US drone is said to have flown over the hostage-taking area.

The Algerian armed forces reported on January 17 that a total of 650 hostages had been released or had escaped since the hostage-taking began, including 100 of the 132 foreigners. Algeria's information policy has been heavily criticized both by the international press and by the states concerned.

Killed hostage takers

nationality	until January 17th
Egypt	3
Algeria	2
Libya	2
Tunisia	2
France	1
Mali	1
Canada	-
Mauritania	-
Niger	-
∑	11

January 18th

The liberated workers from the residential units of the gas field in In Amenas were flown out. Contrary to the first press reports that the liberation operation had been completed, it became known that around 10 fighters from Muwaqiun bi-l Dam were still entrenched with several hostages in the industrial area. The Algerian armed forces said that 60 of the 132 foreign hostages were still missing. A little more than 60 foreigners and 573 Algerians were liberated. How many dead and injured there were remained unclear.

After the first rescue operation by the Algerian armed forces, including soldiers from the Groupe d'Intervention Spécial (GIS), a group of 10 terrorists with several hostages were found in part of the facilities on January 18. The leader of the group, Mokhtar Belmokhtar , called in a video that France and Algeria should negotiate to end the Mali operation. The AQMI fighters also suggested a "prisoner exchange". In return, the Egyptians Sheikh Umar Abd ar-Rahman and the Pakistani scientist Aafia Siddiqui, who are imprisoned in the USA, are to be released for two US citizens under their control . Abd ar-Rahman was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995 for plans to attack targets in New York and for the murder of the then Egyptian head of state Hosni Mubarak. The Pakistani woman was also arrested in the United States on terrorist charges and is said to have tried to shoot US soldiers in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 2008. The US rejected the hostage takers' demands and said it was not negotiating with terrorists.

In the evening, the Mauritanian news agency ANI reported that seven foreign hostages were still being held by the terrorists. There are three Belgians, two US citizens, one Japanese and one British. According to the Chaine 3 radio station, the terrorists tried to set part of the facility on fire. This was prevented by the Algerian army and employees of the plant.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office sent intelligence agents from the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) or MI6 and Security Service (MI5) to Algeria on January 18 to provide on-site support. A rapid deployment team landed at Oued Irara Airport in Hassi Messaoud in the afternoon and is supposed to prepare the evacuation of the British citizens.

The US Air Force on 18 January with a cargo plane 130 Hercules C- started around 10 to 20 former hostages for further medical care in the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to fly to Germany.

January 19th

The Algerian newspaper El Watan reported that the hostage-takers began killing their hostages on Saturday morning. The Algerian armed forces then stormed the facility. Reuters news agency reported that 16 foreign hostages, including two Americans, two Germans and one Portuguese, were freed. The remaining hostages, three Belgians, two Americans, one British and one Japanese were murdered by the remaining hostage takers. The Algerian army was able to complete the military operation by 3 p.m. and shot the 11 remaining Islamist fighters.

According to preliminary information from the Algerian Ministry of the Interior, 23 hostages and 32 fighters from the Muwaqiun bi-l Dam were killed during the hostage-taking from January 16 to 19, 2013. There were no casualties among the Algerian soldiers. According to press reports, 25 to 27 hostages are said to have died.

January 20th

The Algerian energy company Sonatrach reported that the refinery site had been mined with explosives and announced that Algerian soldiers had already started the defusing work. The Algerian Minister of Information Mohand Oussaid Belaid announced that the number of hostages killed still needs to be revised upwards, as special forces of the army continued to search the gas production facilities for victims.

Arming the killed AQMI fighters

According to the APS news agency, numerous weapons and ammunition were found among the attackers in the gas installations, including six PK Kalashnikov machine guns (referred to in the source as FMPK = Fusil mitrailleur PK), 21 AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifles (as PMAK = Pistolet in the source mitrailleur AK), two 60-mm mortars, two RPG-7 anti- tank rifles with eight missiles, and 10 grenades for explosive belts composed of Semtex explosives . Six S-5 missiles that were originally intended for use from the air but had been adapted for launch from the ground. Improvised weapons of this type had already been used in the civil war in Libya (2011) . According to Algerian information, other equipment also included foreign army uniforms.

On January 24, the Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide stated in an interview with the daily Verdens Gang that the Islamist attackers of the Muwaqiun bi-l Dam were preparing for the attack and had previously stored equipment and weapons on the premises. One of the killed hostage takers is said to have been employed as a driver for a local company.

Reactions

Algerian Interior Minister Dahou Ould Kablia said on January 16 that his country would not negotiate with the hostage takers. The army and security forces "surrounded" the Islamists.

After the deaths of numerous people in the Algerian liberation attempt, Japan demanded an immediate end to the military action. The life of the hostages must have the "highest priority", said government spokesman Yoshihide Suga.

British Prime Minister David Cameron canceled his keynote address on British relations with the EU for the keynote address planned for January 18 in Amsterdam because of the dramatic situation in Algeria. The British government also criticized Algeria for not having been informed in advance about the liberation action by the Algerian armed forces.

Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said after consultations with the EU Foreign Ministers on January 17th in Brussels: “These terrorists are not freedom fighters. These are brutal criminals who do not stop at the murder of innocent people ”.

The Italian gas supply company Snam , a subsidiary of the Eni Group , announced on January 17 that, according to traders, the shipments via the Transmed pipeline to Europe had fallen by around ten million cubic meters per day because of the hostage drama. Typically around 70 to 75 million cubic meters per day would flow through the pipeline.

Reports from survivors

The Frenchman Alexandre Berceaux, employee of the French CIS Catering, told Europe 1 : "There were terrorists among the dead, foreigners, locals." He himself holed up under his bed, the terrorists were not far away. “I hid in my room for almost 40 hours. I had something to eat, something to drink. But I didn't know how long it would take. "

A freed hostage told the French newspaper Le Monde : "The night was very difficult, we had nothing to eat, nothing to drink, everyone was crying and screaming." One of these hostages is said to have included an American. "I don't know whether they (the terrorists) recognized him as an American or whether they were frightened when he moved." After shooting the man, he was not immediately dead. "He was bleeding, according to the information I have, he did not survive".

A 21-year-old nurse working on the spot told the Algerian newspaper al-Shorouk : "They [the hostage-takers] had lists with them showing the room numbers of the foreigners" and had specifically searched for them during the attack. In addition, the hostage-takers are said to have spoken to the Algerian workers that they would be spared and that they came to the facility because of the foreigners.

Killed hostages

country	number	Names	source
Japan	10	Tadanori Aratani, Rokuro Fuchida, Yasuji Goto, Fumihiro Ito, Keisuke Kawabata, Satoshi Kiyama, Hidemi Maekawa, Bunshiro Naito, Hiroaki Ogata, Takashi Yamada
Philippines	8th	Raffy Edubane, Iluminado Santiago
United Kingdom	6th	Garry Barlow, Carson Bilsland, Sebastian John, Paul Morgan, Kenneth Whiteside, Steve Green
Norway	5	Thomas Snekkevik, Tore Bech, Hans M. Bjone, Alf Vik, Victor Sneberg
United States	3	Frederick Buttaccio, Victor Lynn Lovelady, Gordon Lee Rowan
Malaysia	2	Chong Chung Ngen, Tan Ping Wee
Romania	2	Ionut Tiberiu Costache, Mihail Bucur
Algeria	1	Mohamed Lamine Lahmar
France	1	Yann Desjeux
Colombia	1	Carlos Estrada
∑ (as of February 12)	39

Web links

• Stefan Binder: How the hostage-taking in Algeria went. In: The Standard . January 20, 2013, accessed on January 22, 2013 (chronology of the hostage situation with interactive map). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ tagesschau.de ( Memento from January 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ zeit.de
3. ↑ ict.org.il
4. ↑ spiegel.de
5. ^ Gas field in Algeria occupied: Islamists threaten with explosion. n-tv.de, January 16, 2013, accessed on January 16, 2013 . 
6. ^ Gas field in Algeria occupied: Islamists threaten with explosion. orf.at, January 16, 2013, accessed January 16, 2013 . 
7. ↑ Algérie: deux Français tués dans l'operation militaire, dont un du côté des preneurs d'otages
8. ↑ drone over algeria gas-plant ( Memento from March 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ spiegel.de
10. ↑ suedkurier.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ↑ zeit.de ( Memento of the original from December 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ zeit.de
13. ↑ guardian.co.uk
14. ↑ stripes.com
15. ↑ spiegel.de
16. ↑ spiegel.de
17. ↑ lemonde.fr
18. ↑ spiegel.de
19. ↑ "In islamistes disent détenir 41 Occidentaux en Algérie" . AFP
20. ↑ wirtschaftsblatt.at ( Memento from January 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
21. ↑ spiegel.de
22. ↑ blick.ch
23. ↑ Kazuaki Nagata and Reiji Yoshida. " Victims and survivors return from Algeria " www.japantimes.co.jp. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
24. ↑ Peter Walker: Algeria hostage crisis: death toll from around the world . In: The Guardian . Retrieved January 26, 2013. 
25. ↑ Algerian hostage crisis hits home: Families of Japanese victims in terrorist siege express grief over loss . In: Yomiuri Shimbun . Retrieved January 26, 2013. 
26. ^ Robbie Swinnerton: Algerians grill more JGC locals over attack . In: Japan Times . Retrieved January 26, 2013. 
27. ↑ Families, friends grieve losses: Bodies of victims killed in Algeria hostage crisis return home . In: Yomiuri Shimbun . Retrieved January 26, 2013. 
28. ↑ 10th, last Japanese victim of Algeria hostage crisis confirmed (Japanese) , Mainichi. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2013. 
29. ↑ Hostage crisis victims' bodies returned . In: Yomiuri Shimbun . Retrieved January 26, 2013. 
30. ^ Profiles of Japanese victims of Algerian hostage crisis (Japanese) , Mainichi. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2013. 
31. ↑ gulfnews.com
32. ↑ youroilandgasnews.com
33. ↑ Cheryl Mullin: Fourth British victim of Algerian siege named as Sebastian John , Birmingham Mail. Retrieved January 24, 2013. 
34. ↑ rigzone.com
35. ↑ telegraph.co.uk
36. ↑ bbc.co.uk
37. ↑ Norway's 4th missing hostage is dead in Algeria , The Miami Herald. January 26, 2012. 
38. ↑ upi.com
39. ↑ telegraph.co.uk
40. ↑ thesundaily.my  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
41. ↑ jordantimes.com ( Memento of the original from January 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
42. ↑ libertatea.ro
43. ↑ nessnews.com ( Memento of the original from January 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
44. ↑ aquitaine.france3.fr
45. ↑ colombiareports.com

Coordinates: 27 ° 55 ′ 37 ″  N , 9 ° 6 ′ 53 ″  E