Jihadist group surrounded by government forces after fierce battle that reportedly cost the lives of some 30 hostages
A small group of jihadists are still holding part of the In Amenas natural gas plant in eastern Algeria, where they are surrounded by government forces after a fierce battle that reportedly cost the lives of some 30 hostages.
Reports from the remote desert region said that about 30 foreign contractors at the site have still not been accounted for, following the surprise Algerian assault on the hostage-takers on Thursday. However, it was impossible to confirm that figure independently.
David Cameron told the House of Commons on Friday morning that "quite significantly" fewer than 30 British citizens were still at risk. The Guardian understands the actual total of those unaccounted for is believed to be around 10.
"We are still dealing with a fluid and dangerous situation where a part of the terrorist threat has been eliminated in one part of the site, but there still remains a threat in another part," the prime minister said.
Radio France's correspondent in Algeria reported that between seven and 10 attackers armed with explosives were still in the In Amenas plant's machine room. Algerian forces have freed about 100 of the 132 foreigners who were taken hostage in a gas facility in the Algerian desert, a security source told Reuters.
The fate of the others - whether they remained captive or had been killed - remained unclear, he said, as the situation at the plant was "changing rapidly".
Two unnamed British men who were said to have been in the compound during the siege gave interviews on Algerian television about their experience. "I think they did a fantastic job," one man said. "I was very impressed with the Algerian army.
"It was a very exciting episode. I feel sorry for anybody who has been hurt but, other than that, I enjoyed it."
A second man said: "The gendarmes did a fantastic job. They kept us all nice and safe and fought off the bad guys. I never really felt in any danger, to be honest."
The Algerian Press Service quoted a security official as saying: "[The army] is still trying to achieve a 'peaceful outcome' before neutralising the terrorist group that is holed up in the [facility] and freeing a group of hostages still being held."
Japan said three of its nationals had escaped but 10 were still not accounted for. The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, who met the prime minister in London, said "somewhere in the vicinity" of seven or eight Americans had been taken hostage. The Norwegian government said one of its citizens escaped from the gas complex overnight and was recovering in hospital, but that it did not know the fate of eight others.
A plane carrying a UK foreign office rapid deployment team landed in the desert outpost of Hassi Messaoud this afternoon, and was waiting for Algerian clearance to fly the remaining 300 miles south-east to In Amenas, on the border with Libya. The foreign office said that BP, a partner in the gas field, had taken the lead in organising the evacuation of rescued and escaped British workers but that the government team was there as a contingency to offer support. In the team there were also officials (believed to be from the intelligence agencies) to debrief hostages before they returned to the UK.
A US plane has meanwhile flown to the region to pick up freed American hostages, and a US drone was reported to be flying over the gas field.
The Algerian government claimed to have killed 18 of the "Signers in Blood" militant group, and reports from the area said the surviving guerillas had been driven out of the gas field's living quarters, where they had taken hundreds of hostages, and into the gas plant itself. The pumps have been turned off to avert a catastrophic explosion.
After sharp criticism from Japan for launching a military assault on the hostage-takers, and from the UK for not informing London before launching the operation, the Algerian authorities defended their actions, saying the militants were attempting to flee the scene with the hostages, who were believed to be in imminent jeopardy.
The government in Algiers issued a statement saying: "This operation saved hundreds of hostages lives and averted a disaster at the gas installations."
However, the Mauritanian news agency ANI, which has stayed in contact with the militant group throughout the siege, quoted a source in its ranks as saying they had not intended to leave the gas field but were moving a group of hostages from one part of the complex to another when Algerian army helicopter gunships opened fire on the vehicles ferrying the hostages and their captors.
The ANI also quoted the militants threatening more attacks on oil and gas installations in Algeria. A spokesman called on Algerians to "keep away from the installations of foreign companies, because we will suddenly attack where no one would expect it".
France, which is dependent on the co-operation of Algeria for the smooth running of its Mali operation, namely in terms of securing its border and opening its airspace, was positive in its comments on the Algerian assault on the facility. The French interior minister Manual Valls said he "cautioned prudence against criticism" of the Algerian operation and recognised Algeria's fight against terrorism alongside France.
The French president, François Hollande, said he had every confidence in the Algerian authorities to handle the situation, which he referred to as "unfolding in dramatic conditions".
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, cut short a three-nation visit to south-east Asia to return to Tokyo to oversee Japan's response to the crisis.
Abe, who was due to make a foreign policy speech in Indonesia on Friday evening, was expected to return to the Japanese capital early on Saturday.
There was irritation, bordering on anger, that the Algerian government had not notified Japan of the rescue attempt. Tokyo was told of the military operation by Britain's ambassador to Algeria, local reports said.
Abe told reporters he had asked his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmalek Sellal, in a phone call to refrain from any moves that could threaten the safety of the hostages. Japan's top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, described the rescue attempt as regrettable, amid unconfirmed reports that two Japanese nationals were among those who died during the assault.
The Japanese services contractor operating at the Algerian gas field, JGC, said that of the 61 non-Japanese it employed at the facility, 10 had been accounted for. JGC's president and other company executives were due to leave for Algeria on Friday.