The US condemned Wednesday what it called a terrorist attack on a gas facility in south-east Algeria and said that American citizens were among the hostages, DPA reported.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States condemns the attack "in the strongest terms," adding "we are obviously closely monitoring the situation."
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken with the US ambassador in Algiers and Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal.
Nuland would not say how many US citizens were among the people being held and would not provide names "in order to protect their safety."