Algeria army kills 34 hostages, 15 kidnappers

Algerian military forces killed 34 hostages and 15 of their Islamist kidnappers in an assault on a remote desert gas field on Thursday, the ANI news agency quoted a spokesman for the kidnappers as saying.

"Thirty-four hostages and 15 kidnappers were killed in an (air) raid by the Algerian army," the spokesman said.

Among the dead was Abu al-Baraa, who led the Wednesday operation in which 41 foreigners and scores of Algerians were seized.