Reports have surfaced that the alleged leader of Al Qaeda-linked terrorists who took hundreds of gas workers hostage in Algeria threatened to blow them up if the army got too close.

In an audio recording, believed to be from late Thursday, aired by Mauritian news agency ANI, Commander Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri said, "Some of the hostages are still alive and they are being held by some of the brothers in the gas factory," adding, "By Allah, we will blow them up if the Algerian army gets close to us."

In a "final assault," Algerian special forces raided the complex on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of at least 23 hostages and 32 terrorists while freeing the remaining hostages.