A number of Americans are among 41 hostages seized by militants at a gas field in Algeria, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed on Wednesday, while declining to give the names, number or other details about those U.S. nationals "in order to protect their safety."
The hostage situation, described as a "terrorist attack" by Nuland, was unfolding at a gas operation in Amenas — a joint venture including oil giant BP, Norwegian oil firm Statoil and Algerian state company Sonatrach.
"The majority of those held are Algerian nationals," a senior U.S. official said earlier. Reuters also said that the number of U.S. citizens involved was 7, but Nuland declined to confirm the details.
SNIP
Here is a link with a very long article sourced from Reuters, and a number of other north African and European sources. There are also some very good comments with detailed information and links. [Don’t reject just because it comes from Huff Post.] Only a few of the hostages were American, there are at least 7 to 10 other foreign nationalities at risk, not to mention hundreds of Algerians. Also this situation is linked with the French activity in Mali and does not appear to have any direct US link.