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January 21, 2013

Up to 80 Killed in Algeria Hostage Crisis 
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The hostage standoff in Algeria has ended in the deaths of dozens of
people, including up to 48 of the captured workers. Algerian forces say
they have recovered at least 25 bodies after storming the militant-held
gas complex on Saturday, bringing the confirmed death toll to at least
80. Witnesses say the hostages were brutally executed. The toll could
have been worse, as hundreds of hostages had earlier managed to escape.
A well-known Islamist fighter named Mokhtar Belmokhtar has claimed
responsibility for the attack on behalf of al-Qaeda. The militants who
took the complex claimed they were doing so to seek an end to the French
military intervention in neighboring Mali.

 

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