Algeria Says Militants Were to Move Hostages After Blast

A multinational group of terrorists that killed at least 38 hostages, including three Americans, at a gas complex in Algeria planned to blow up the site and escape into neighboring Mali with their captives, according to the first official account of the raid.

Only the actions of the Algerian army prevented the 32-man militant squad, which had “a massive arsenal” and explosives experts, from fleeing with hostages, Abdelmalek Sellal, the country’s prime minister, told reporters in Algiers yesterday. At least one member of the terrorists was a Canadian national whose job was to contact the media, he said.