Who was behind the Algerian hostage crisis, what happened to those taken hostage by armed militants and how did events unfold?
TIMELINE OF EVENTS -- JANUARY 16
A bus carrying 19 foreign workers from the joint oil and gas project Tiguentourine to the airport is attacked by Islamic militants in the early morning.
A skirmish occurs between the militants and members of the National Gendarmerie, who were escorting the workers, according to Algeria's Ministry of Interior.
One Algerian worker and one British man are killed in the incident, and six others are believed injured. The others are taken hostage by militants.
It's believed militants then infiltrated the living quarters of employees some three kilometres from Tiguentourine.
The number of known hostages taken rises to 41, although later reports suggest it could be in the hundreds.
Unconfirmed reports also suggest nine Japanese employees of engineering firm JGC were also killed in the first hours of the siege.
More than a dozen workers are believed to have escaped from the oil project in the early hours of the hostage crisis.
According to a media statement by Algeria's Ministry of Interior and Local Authorities, the militant group travelled to In Amenas in all-terrain vehicles from “neighbouring countries”.
The statement claims three of the 32 assailants were Algerians. The others are believed to be of different nationalities.
JANUARY 17
The Algerian military launches a mission to rescue the remaining hostages.
Irish national Stephen McFaul, a 36-year-old electrical engineer working at the In Amenas site, contacts his family to tell them he has escaped after a jeep he was being transported in crashed while under attack from aerial bombing.
Philippine worker Jojo Balmaceda, an employee of BP, later claims to have escaped in a similar way, after a truck he was in was hit by an explosion.
A group calling itself "Signatories for Blood" or "Those Who Sign With Blood" has claimed responsibility for the attacks. The group is calling for an end to French intervention in Mali.
JANUARY 18
Gunmen claim they are still holding three Belgians, two Americans, one Japanese and a Briton hostage.
JANUARY 19
The siege ends after an Algerian troops launched an assault on the plant.
Sixteen foreign hostages are freed, Reuters reports, including two Americans, two Germans and one Portuguese.
Algeria's state-run press service reports an assault on insurgents by the People's National Army Special Forces ended with 32 terrorists “neutralised” and 23 people killed. The exact number of people killed is expected to be revised as medical and military troops gain access to the site.
The burned bodies of between 15 and 25 people are discovered at the site. Their identities are not immediately clear.
JANUARY 20
The Algeria Press Service reports the city of In Amenas is “returning to normal”, as reports emerge from survivors who tell of the brutal attack.
WHO WAS BEHIND THE ATTACK?
British media reports suggest the man who led the attack on In Amenas is connected to Mokhtar Belmoktar, a former leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Belmoktar broke away from AQIM late last year to form his own group, Those Who Sign With Blood.
WHERE DID THE ATTACK OCCUR?
The attack occurred at the Tiguentourine gas project, a joint venture owned and operated by BP, Norwegian company Statoil and the Algerian state oil and gas company Sonatrach, in the city of In Amenas.
Japanese engineering company JGC was also operating at the site at the time, with some of its employees also caught up in the attack.
In Amenas is located in eastern Algerian, around 60 kilometres from the Libyan border.
- 32 Islamist militants, according to the Algerian government
- 23 hostages, according to Algeria
- Confirmed dead: three from Britain, two from the Philippines, one each from the US, Algeria, Colombia, Romania and France
- 25 more bodies found on Sunday, unclear yet whether they were hostages or militants
WHO IS STILL MISSING?
BP confirmed there were 18 employees of the company In Amenas at the time of the attack. Fourteen of them are now safe and accounted for. The company is “gravely concerned” about the four employees that are still missing.
Statoil confirmed 17 of its employees were at In Amenas at the time of the attack. Twelve are now confirmed safe. The company states on its website the situation “remains unresolved” for the remaining five employees.
The five Statoil employees still missing as of January 21 are:
· Tore Bech – aged 58 years, resident in Bergen
· Hans M. Bjone – aged 55 years, resident in Brandbu
· Victor Sneberg – aged 56 years, resident in Sandnes
· Thomas Snekkevik – aged 35 years, resident in Austrheim/Bergen
· Alf Vik – aged 43 years, resident in Grimstad.
Ten Japanese employees of JGC Corp are unaccounted for.
The number and details of missing employees of Sonatrach are not confirmed.
