On Jan. 16, 2013, militants attacked a BP gas plant at In Amenas, Algeria. They took foreign and Algerian plant employees hostage and strapped explosives to them. It is likely they were planning to blow up the gas facility in an act of terrorism, possibly in protest against French involvement in Mali.
Nearly 800 hostages managed to escape with their lives, but at least 38 others, including three Americans, were executed by their captors or accidentally killed as a result of a helicopter attack launched by the Algerian government. The siege ended after a final military raid of the plant 4 days later.
Countries destabilized by war, unrest or revolution and those countries that have not increased security to match growing foreign investments are the most common hotspots year-to-year. Control Risks' 2013 RiskMap reports that kidnapping-for-ransom in the Middle East rose from a 4 percent in global numbers in 2008 to 19 percent in 2012. Risks also remain substantial in Africa and Latin America. The event at In Amenas and global trends illustrate the increasing relevance of kidnap & ransom (K&R) insurance.
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