Unknown attackers fired rockets at a gas facility in the Sahara Desert in Algeria on Friday, energy groups Statoil and BP said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
A local official in Algeria said the assailants fired homemade rocket launchers around 6 a.m. at the Krechba gas facility, jointly operated with Norway-based Statoil and Britain-based BP and overseen by Algerian state-run gas company Sonatrach.
Army reinforcements have been sent to the area from other regions, according to that official and another, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the operation.
Stavanger, Noway-based Statoil said the Krechba facility was “hit by explosive munitions fired from a distance.” The company said it has been in touch with its three employees there, who were safe and not hurt.
British energy group BP said in a statement that there were no reports of injuries to its employees and the facility was shut down as a safety precaution. It did not say how many people were working there.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/statoil-gas-facility-algerian-sahara-attacked-37742971