Al-Qaeda launches rocket attack on Algerian gas plant

Al-Qaeda's North Africa arm has claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it a protest over shale gas extraction.

The heavily guarded In Salah gas facility lies around 750 miles south of the capital Algiers, deep in the Sahara desert.

The camp was "hit by explosive munitions fired from a distance", said Norwegian energy company Statoil, which runs the plant.

The group said officials had been in touch with its three workers in the camp and there were no reports of injuries.

An industry source told Reuters that there were no reports of damage to the plant.

However, the BP-Statoil facility has been closed as a precautionary measure, the company said.

Britain's BP, which along with Algerian company Sonatrach also operates the plant in the south of the country, said no employees were hurt.

"There are no reports of any injuries to personnel at the site and the Central Processing Facility (CPF) has been shut down as a safety precaution," it said.

A plant employee who did not wish to be named told AFP that the site was surrounded by a security fence and soldiers were permanently on guard.

"The rockets seem to have been fired from very far away," he said.

Algerian army units are said to be pursuing the militants in the desert region.

Security has been tight in the area following the 2013 al-Qaeda attack on Ain Amenas camp in Algeria, which led to a four-day siege.

Around 37 - mostly foreign - hostages were killed in the ensuing gun battle between al-Qaeda militants and Algerian security.

A brutal civil war between Islamist rebels and government forces in the 1990s led to the proliferation of extremist groups in the Sahara region.

The recent security clampdown in Algeria is thought to have largely neutralised many of the armed outfits, though attacks have increased in Sahel countries.

A number of Islamic State group-affiliated groups have emerged in Algeria, including Jund al-Khalifa, which kidnapped and murdered a French hostage in 2014.

Russia, meanwhile, is expected to deliver 40 Mi-28 "Night Hunter" helicopters which are expected to take a leading role in the fight against militants in the Sahara region. The deal is part of a bilateral agreement, said Moscow's Interfax agency on Friday.