HomeAfricaArticle Algerian army frees around 70 foreign hostages: APS

File photo of the gas field in Amenas, Algeria in this handout photo provided by Scanpix April 19, 2005. Image by: SCANPIX / REUTERS -

Tanks are seen in the area of a gas plant where Algerian forces have launched an operation to free foreign hostages in Tigantourine in this still image taken from December 2012 file video footage. Image by: REUTERS TV / Reuters - - Sapa-AFP | 18 January, 2013 16:37 File photo of the gas field in Amenas, Algeria in this handout photo provided by Scanpix April 19, 2005. Image by: SCANPIX / REUTERS The Algerian army's rescue operation has freed nearly 650 hostages, including around 70 foreigners, who had been seized by Islamist gunmen at the In Amenas gas plant, national media said on Friday. "Nearly 650 hostages seized in the attack carried out on Wednesday by a terrorist group at the In Amenas gas complex, among them 573 Algerians and more than half of the 132 foreign hostages, were freed," the APS news agency reported. Times Live 60 hostages dead, missing in Algeria standoff Sapa-AP | 18 January, 2013 16:33 Tanks are seen in the area of a gas plant where Algerian forces have launched an operation to free foreign hostages in Tigantourine in this still image taken from December 2012 file video footage. Image by: REUTERS TV / Reuters Algeria's state news service says about 60 foreign hostages are unaccounted for in the standoff with Islamist militants now entering its third day. The news service said more than half the 132 foreign hostages had been freed, but the report could not account for the rest. The report Friday also said special forces had resumed negotiations after an assault Thursday at the gas plant deep in the Sahara. A Mauritanian news site that frequently receives messages from al-Qaida linked militants said the hostage-takers in Algeria had offered to trade two captive Americans for two jailed terror figures in the United States. One of the two, Omar Abdel Rahman, masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Times Live - - - COMMENTS BY SONNY - - - Is this really a 'rescue' with so many deaths? Who trained these troops? 60 hostages dead, missing in Algeria standoff..... What a massacre.