Military raid ends Algerian hostage crisis

Algerian special forces launched a rescue operation yesterday at a natural gas plant in the Sahara Desert and freed foreign hostages held by al Qaeda linked militants, but estimates for the number of dead varied wildly from four to dozens.

Earlier in the day father-of-two Stephen McFaul, 36, from Belfast, managed to escape.

Militants claiming revenge for France’s intervention against rebels in Mali seized the Ain Amenas natural gas complex on Wednesday, taking dozens of foreign workers hostage.