Algerian Minister of Communication Mohamed Said Oubelaid said Thursday that the militants who carried an assault and kidnapped a number of foreign workers at a gas field facility in the southern province of Illizi are of several different nationalities.
"We are dealing with a heavily armed multinational terrorist group," Oubelaid was quoted as saying by the state-run television (ENTV).
Earlier on Wednesday, the country's Interior Minister, Daho Ould Kablia said that the militants who carried out the attack are from the region.
Oubelaid also said that the operation to free the hostages, which was launched after the captors shrugged off a surrender offer, left many militants killed, adding that some hostages were also killed and injured, without providing a toll.
The minister added that Algeria has worked closely with Western countries on this issue.
At dawn on Wednesday, an armed group attacked a gas-field in the locality of Tiguentourine in Illizi, as they killed two people and injured six, according to official source. At least 41 foreigners were also kidnapped by the armed group called " Battalion of Blood."