3 key militant leaders have been killed and dozens of international hostages are reported to have been freed in the In Amenas hostage crisis in Algeria.

Algerian authorities said that the three killed - an Algerian, Mauritanian and Nigerian - were key leaders for the so-called Signed-in-Blood organization believed to be part of the Al Qaeda network.

The crisis unfolded Wednesday, when militants abducted a bus of foreign workers at the natural gas facility of In Amenas.

Later, the terrorists took over the entire gas facility, taking all workers as hostages.

An intervention by the Algerian armed forces killed many of the militants, but also resulted in the death of at least 41 hostages.

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