CAIRO: The British foreign ministry has confirmed that their own nationals have been caught up in what they have described as a “terrorist incident” in the Algerian border town with Libya of Ain Amenas. It did not reveal their identities, but said that they were working to see an end to this crisis. ITV has reported that one UK citizen has been killed in the incident. Militants have taken at least 20 hostages in the Eastern Algerian town home to a natural gas facility. The militants are reportedly using the attack as a means of protesting the French military intervention in Mali, which began this week. “There is in an ongoing terrorist incident near the town of Ain Amenas at an oil installation near the Algerian border with Libya,” the ministry said on Wednesday. “We can confirm that British nationals are caught up in this incident. “The FCO has political and consular crisis teams working on this incident. The British Embassy in Algiers is liaising with the local authorities." Also part of the hostages are what US media says are as many as 7 American citizens. Militants claiming to belong to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb said they seized the hostages to punish Algeria for letting France use its airspace to launch strikes and support operations in Mali. The assailants said the hostages would be freed if France ends its military force in Mali. “Algeria's participation in the war on the side of France betrays the blood of the Algerian martyrs who fell in the fight against the French occupation," the Nouakchott News Agency quoted a militant spokesman as saying. One foreign workers was reported killed in Tuesday's violence at Amenas. Bikyanews.com
