The group is "very heavily armed. They have missiles, rocket-launchers and other weapons of war," the source said, adding that the terrorist group is "very determined."

The terrorist group "hold the foreign workers in the gas complex hostages and take them to Mali to exert unbearable pressures on the countries involved in the operations of the fight against terrorists in Mali and also on the international community," the source explained.

"Otherwise, the group warned to kill the foreign hostages to maximize the impact on the international community," the source added.

The Algerian Special Forces tried Thursday morning to reach a peaceful outcome but the terrorists, according to information that reached them, intended to kill all hostages and massacre everyone in the gas complex, the source said.

The Army Special Forces decided then to launch a land attack to neutralize the group of terrorists who were about to flee with the hostages, the source explained.

This intervention, carried out in an "extremely complex" situation, avoided a "disaster to hundreds of hostages and the gas facilities," the source added.