Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has warned of an attack on hotels in Algeria.

The State Department has urged employees of the U.S. embassy in Algiers to avoid American-owned or -operated hotels over July 4-5.

The department said an unidentified insurgency group might be planning a major strike during American Independence Day on July 4 or Algerian Independence Day on
July 5.

“As of June 2014 an unspecified terrorist group may have been
considering attacks in Algiers, possibly in the vicinity of a U.S.-branded
hotel,” the U.S. embassy in Algiers said.

Officials did not identify U.S.-owned or -operated hotels in Algeria.
But they said the alert was based on reports that Algerian fighters for Al
Qaida in Syria were returning to North Africa and planning operations.

“I would say broadly speaking that the threat of foreign fighters is a
concern that we share with many counterparts in the world, whether that’s
European or others in the Western world, where we’ve seen an increase in
foreign fighters who have traveled to Syria and other countries in the
region and returning,” State Department Jen Psaki said. “And so we have been
discussing a range of steps we can take in a coordinated fashion for some
time.”

Officials also warned Americans to avoid gatherings in Algiers. They
also urged Americans to “monitor local news reports and plan their
activities accordingly.”

This marked the first time in 2014 that Washington warned of an
insurgency plot in Algeria. Algeria has been deemed the base of Al Qaida
Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, which expanded to such neighboring states as Libya,
Mali, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

“The U.S. embassy, when conditions warrant, takes steps like this to
balance our continued operations with security and safety,” the U.S. embassy
said. “However, beyond this announcement we do not discuss specific threat
information, security considerations or measures, or other steps we may be
taking.”

  Americans in Algeria warned of Independence Day attack, Jen Psaki, U.S. State Department