Algerian War

Algerian troops today killed a jihadist east of the capital, the defence ministry said, bringing to 12 the number of gunmen killed by security forces in a week.

With emotions running high in France after the attacks in Paris, President Francois Hollande has called for sweeping new security powers, raising fears of a French-style Patriot Act.

Islamist gunmen holding dozens of Western hostages and scores of Algerians at a gas plant deep in the Sahara desert let some of them speak to the media on Thursday to warn that they would be blown up if the site is stormed.

Islamist fighters have opened an international front in Mali's civil war by taking dozens of Western hostages at a gas plant in the Algerian desert just as French troops launched an offensive against rebels in neighbouring Mali.

Algerian troops today killed a jihadist east of the capital, the defence ministry said, bringing to 12 the number of gunmen killed by security forces in a week.

With emotions running high in France after the attacks in Paris, President Francois Hollande has called for sweeping new security powers, raising fears of a French-style Patriot Act.

Islamist gunmen holding dozens of Western hostages and scores of Algerians at a gas plant deep in the Sahara desert let some of them speak to the media on Thursday to warn that they would be blown up if the site is stormed.

Islamist fighters have opened an international front in Mali's civil war by taking dozens of Western hostages at a gas plant in the Algerian desert just as French troops launched an offensive against rebels in neighbouring Mali.