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Bomb squads defusing traps; siege toll tops 80

ALGIERS, Algeria — Algerian bomb squads searched a gas refinery laced with mines today, looking for more explosive traps a day after the discovery of more bodies throughout the site raised the toll from the siege well past 80 total.

Special forces from the Algerian military stormed the plant Saturday to end the four-day siege, then the government began the work of finding and defusing the explosives planted in what government officials said was a plot by the Islamic extremists to blow up the complex and kill all their captives.

In a statement, the Masked Brigade, the group that claimed to have masterminded the takeover, warned of more such attacks against any country backing France’s military intervention in neighboring Mali, where the French are trying to stop an advance by Islamic extremists.

Algeria said after Saturday’s assault by government forces that at least 32 terrorists and 23 hostages were killed. On Sunday, the Algerian bomb squads found 25 more bodies, said a security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

A wounded Romanian who had been evacuated died, raising the overall death toll to at least 81.

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