It's believed that two of the dead militants in the Algerian crisis are Canadian, driving the total number of people killed to 23 in a siege where extremists used rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. NBC's Keir Simmons reports that there are still an unknown number of Americans among the victims. 1
UPDATED at 10 a.m. ET: A Canadian national coordinated the Islamist militant attack on a gas plant where dozens of workers were taken hostage and at least 37 hostages were slain, Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal said in a Monday news conference in Algiers.
Reuters had reported earlier Monday that two of the attackers found dead at the gas plant were Canadian, and Canadian authorities acknowledged that they were investigating reports of the involvement of at least one of their citizens.
The claim came as dramatic stories began to emerge from hostages who escaped the bloody end to the siege at the Tiguentourine plant near In Amenas.
The Algerian security source told Reuters that documents found on the bodies of the two militants had identified them as Canadians.
The militants had previously been described to reporters as a mix of Arabs, Africans and others from outside Africa.
The report could not be immediately confirmed, but if true it highlights the wider threat from al-Qaida and other similar groups.
Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it was “aware of reports that Canadians may have been involved in the hostage-taking in Algeria.”
“We are pursuing all appropriate channels to seek further information and are in close contact with Algerian authorities,” the statement added. “Canada condemns in the strongest possible terms this deplorable and cowardly attack and all terrorist groups which seek to create and perpetuate insecurity in the Sahel countries of West Africa.”
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