Islamists behind Algeria Raid Threaten More Strikes
Islamists who held several hostages at an Algerian gas plant sparking a bloody commando raid threatened Friday to stage more attacks, according to a spokesman cited by the Mauritanian news agency.
"Taking into account the suffering of the Algerian people, we promise the regime in place that there will be more operations," a spokesman for the "Signatories in Blood" told ANI.
He asked Algerians to "clear out from sites belonging to foreign firms (as) we will emerge in places where nobody is expecting us."
Veteran Islamist fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed Algerian jihadist with Al-Qaida ties, has claimed responsibility for launching Wednesday's attack on the remote desert In Amena complex near the Libyan border.
It was to avenge a military intervention in neighboring Mali by France, which swooped in a week ago to stop Islamists controlling the vast desert north from pushing towards the capital Bamako.
International criticism is mounting of the Algerian government's handling of the attack on the plant amid reports that many foreign hostages may have been killed in the subsequent raid.
Source: Agence France Presse
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