The death toll is rising. It is clear, now, that al-Qaeda has not been vanquished. The total dead at a natural gas plant in Algeria, after a four-day siege by Algerian special forces against a terror group linked to al-Qaeda holding hostages at the plant in the Sahara Desert, is now more than 80. Many of the bodies found were unrecognizable, and the differentiation between hostages and terrorists has been difficult.
The Masked Brigade, the group claiming responsibility, warned of more such attacks against any country backing France's military intervention in neighboring Mali, where the French are trying to stop an advance by Islamism.
"Now, of course, people will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events, but I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched a vicious and cowardly attack," British Prime Minister David Cameron said. Three Britons were killed and another three were feared dead.
The dead hostages were also known to include at least one American as well as Filipino and French workers. Nearly two dozen foreigners by some estimates were unaccounted for.
Armed with heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, missiles and grenades, the militants singled out foreign workers at the plant, killing some of them on the spot and attaching explosive belts to others.
The militants had decided long before the siege that they were going to blow up the gas complex and kill all the hostages, according to Algerian Communications Minister Mohamed Said.
The Algerians' use of forced raised an international outcry from some countries worried about their citizens, but negotiations with Islamic terrorists have always failed. The only thing Islamists seem to understand is brute force.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Death Toll Climbs Past 80 In Siege in the Sahara - Associated Press
Official: 25 More Bodies Found at Algerian Plant - Yahoo! News
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