The Wilaya of
Relizane massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
s of 4 January 1998 took place in three remote villages around
Oued Rhiou
Oued Rhiou is a town and Communes of Algeria, commune in Relizane Province, Algeria.
References
Communes of Relizane Province
{{Relizane-geo-stub ...
about 150 miles (240 km) west of
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
, during the
Algeria
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, relig ...
n conflict of the 1990s. At least 172 villagers were killed in a single day of
Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
:
* at
Had Chekala, no residents survived; more than thirty guerrillas burned the village down afterwards
* at
Remka, initial reports claimed 117 killed; in 2006, Prime Minister
Ahmed Ouyahia
Ahmed Ouyahia ( ar, rtl=yes, أحمد أويحيى, Aḥmad ʾŪyaḥyā; 2 July 1952) is an Algerian politician who was Prime Minister of Algeria four times (1995–98, 2004–2006, 2008–2012, 2017–2019). A career diplomat, he also served as ...
declared that the true toll had been 1000, and that the government had "hid
enthe truth because you don't go into battle proclaiming defeat." A survivor told ''La Tribune'' "One pregnant woman had her fetus cut out and slaughtered."
* at
Ain Tarik
Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where i ...
, an unknown number were killed
The massacres were attributed to the
GIA
''Gia'' is a 1998 American biographical drama television film about the life and times of one of the first supermodels, Gia Carangi. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Gia and Faye Dunaway as Wilhelmina Cooper, with Mercedes Ruehl and Elizabeth M ...
, and had been preceded some days before by the
Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 30 December 1997
The Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 30 December 1997 were probably the single bloodiest day of killing in the Algerian conflict of the 1990s. Several members of the population of four villages were killed; the exact number of casualties has vari ...
. They provoked mass population flight from the afflicted area - the population of Ramka, for instance, dropped from 9,200 in 1990 to 5,215 in 1998 - and led to international condemnation and calls for an independent investigation.
See also
*
List of massacres in Algeria
*
List of Algerian massacres of the 1990s
Many massacres were committed during the Algerian Civil War that began in 1991. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) claimed responsibility for many of them, while for others no group has claimed responsibility. In addition to generating a widespread sen ...
External links
BBCBBCCNNIDP Survey
Algerian massacres of the 1990s
1998 in Algeria
Conflicts in 1998
Massacres in 1998
January 1998 events in Africa
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