Breaking News - Report: 7 hostages dead as crisis in Algeria 'brought to an end'

[NewsCaster]

By Becky Bratu and Jim Miklaszewski, NBC NewsTwenty-three hostages and 32 militants were killed after an attack on a  natural gas plant deep in the Sahara, the Algerian interior ministry said  on Saturday, according to news wires.

The official also said 107 foreign hostages and 685 Algerian  hostages had been released, several news outlets reported.

Earlier, British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said, speaking on information received by the British government, that the hostage crisis had "been brought to an end."

The Algerian Press Service had reported that several al-Qaida-linked militants were killed during the final raid launched by Algeria's military at the In Amenas plant, where the militants had taken a large number of hostages since the standoff began on Wednesday.

NBCNews