The hostage death toll from a four-day siege at an Algerian gas plant deep in the Sahara has risen to almost 60, with at least nine Japanese nationals also reported to have died in an attack claimed by a veteran Islamist fighter on behalf of al Qaeda.
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal is expected to give details on Monday about one of the worst international hostage crises in decades, which left American, British, French, Japanese, Norwegian and Romanian workers dead or missing.
More bodies have been found at the In Amenas complex - many so badly disfigured it is unclear whether they were hostages or Islamist militants. Algerian authorities are continuing to search the scene.
A security source said on Sunday that troops had found the bodies of 25 hostages, raising the total number of hostages killed to 48 and the total number of deaths to at least 80. He said six militants were captured alive and troops were still searching for others.
That number climbed further on Monday when a Japanese government source said the Algerian government had informed Tokyo that nine Japanese had been killed - the biggest toll so far among foreigners at the plant, Reuters reports.
Islamist fighter Mokhtar Belmokhtar has claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of al Qaeda.
"We in al Qaeda announce this blessed operation," he said in a video, according to regional website Sahara Media. He said about 40 attackers took part in the raid, roughly matching the government's figures for fighters killed and captured.
The fighters swooped out of the desert and seized the base just before dawn on Wednesday, capturing a plant that produces 10% of Algeria's natural gas exports and residential barracks nearby.
They demanded an end to French air strikes against Islamist fighters in neighbouring Mali that had begun five days earlier. However, American and European officials doubt that such a complex raid could have been organised quickly enough to have been conceived as a direct response to the French military intervention.
The siege turned bloody on Thursday when the Algerian army opened fire, saying fighters were trying to escape with their prisoners. Survivors said Algerian forces blasted several trucks in a convoy carrying both hostages and captors.
Nearly 700 Algerian workers and more than 100 foreigners escaped, mainly on Thursday when the fighters were driven from the residential barracks. Some captors remained holed up in the industrial complex until Saturday when they were overrun.
Strained relations
The bloodshed has strained Algeria's relations with its Western allies, some of whom have complained about being left in the dark while the decision to storm the compound was being taken. Nevertheless, Britain and France both defended the Algerian military action.
"It's easy to say that this or that should have been done. The Algerian authorities took a decision and the toll is very high but I am a bit bothered ... when the impression is given that the Algerians are open to question," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. "They had to deal with terrorists."
British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a televised statement: "Of course people will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events, but I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched this vicious and cowardly attack.
"We should recognise all that the Algerians have done to work with us and to help and coordinate with us. I'd like to thank them for that. We should also recognise that the Algerians too have seen lives lost among their soldiers."
British Prime Minister David Cameron said three Britons have been confirmed dead, while another three and a British resident are likely to have been killed.
Mr Cameron said the priority was to get survivors home and warned that extremists in North Africa could pose a threat for decades to come, requiring coordinated and resolute action to combat them.
