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Méhariste
Méhariste is a French word that roughly translates to camel cavalry. The word is most commonly used as a designation of military units. French camel corps Origins France created a corps of méhariste camel companies (''Compagnies Méharistes Sahariennes''), as part of the ''Armée d'Afrique'', in the Sahara in 1902. These units replaced regular units of Algerian spahis and tirailleurs earlier used to patrol the desert boundaries. The newly raised ''Compagnies méharistes'' were originally recruited mainly from the Chaamba nomadic tribe and commanded by officers of the French ''Affaires Indigènes'' (Native Affairs Bureau). Each company of Méharistes comprised six officers, 36 French non-commissioned officers and troopers, and 300 Chaamba troopers. Their bases were at Tabelbala, Adrar, Ouargla, Fort Polignac and Tamanrasset. History With their local tribal links, plus their mobility and flexible tactics, the ''Compagnies Méharistes'' provided an effective means of polic ...
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French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army. It formed part of the Armée d’Afrique, the French Army's units associated with France's colonial project in Africa, until the end of the Algerian war in 1962. Legionnaires are highly trained soldiers and the Legion is unique in that it is open to foreign recruits willing to serve in the French Armed Forces. The Legion is today known as a unit whose training focuses on traditional military skills and on its strong esprit de corps, as its men and women come from different countries with different cultures. Consequently, training is often described as not only physically challenging, but also very stressful psychologically. French citizenship may be applied for after three years' service. Any soldier who is wounded during a battle for Fr ...
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Sahara
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Camel Cavalry
Camel cavalry, or camelry (french: méharistes, ), is a generic designation for armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ... using camels as a means of transportation. Sometimes warriors or soldiers of this type also fought from camel-back with spears, bow and arrow, bows or rifles. Camel cavalry were a common element in desert warfare throughout history in the Middle East, due in part to the animal's high level of adaptability. They provided a mobile element better suited to work and survive in an arid and waterless environment than the horses of conventional cavalry. The smell of the camel, according to Herodotus, alarmed and disoriented horses, making camels an effective anti-cavalry weapon when employed by the Achaemenid Persians in the Battle of Thymbra. Ear ...
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Royal Corps Of Colonial Troops
The Royal Corps of Colonial Troops ( it, Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali or RCTC) was a corps of the Italian Armed Forces, in which all the Italian colonial troops were grouped until the end of World War II in Africa. History Many of the Askaris in Eritrea were drawn from local Nilotic populations, including Hamid Idris Awate, who reputedly had some Nara ancestry. Of these troops, the first Eritrean battalions were raised in 1888 from Muslim and Christian volunteers, replacing an earlier Bashi-bazouk corps of irregulars. The four ''Indigeni'' battalions in existence by 1891 were incorporated into the Royal Corps of Colonial Troops that year. Expanded to eight battalions, the Eritrean Ascaris fought with distinction at Serobeti, Agordat, Kassala, Coatit and Adwa and subsequently served in Libya and Ethiopia. These troops were deployed on all fronts in Africa from the First Italo-Ethiopian War, the Italian-Turkish war, the conquest of Ethiopia, until World War II. The colonial sold ...
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Tuareg People
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Traditionally nomadic pastoralists, small groups of Tuareg are also found in northern Nigeria. The Tuareg speak languages of the same name (also known as ''Tamasheq''), which belong to the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family. The Tuaregs have been called the "blue people" for the indigo dye coloured clothes they traditionally wear and which stains their skin. They are a semi-nomadic people who practice Islam, and are descended from the indigenous Berber communities of Northern Africa, which have been described as a mosaic of local Northern African ( Taforalt), Middle Eastern, European ( Early European Farmers), and Sub-Saharan African-related ancestries, prior to the Arab expansion. Tua ...
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Armée De Libération Nationale
The National Liberation Army or ALN ( ar, جيش التحرير الوطني الجزائري, translit=Jaīš al-taḥrīr al-waṭanī al-jazāʾirī; french: Armée de libération nationale) was the armed wing of the nationalist National Liberation Front of Algeria during the Algerian War. After Algeria won its independence from France in 1962, the ALN was converted into the regular Algerian People's National Armed Forces. History Algerian Revolution The (National Liberation Front) was established by the (Revolutionary Committee of Unity and Action) and organised in March 1954. Around two years later this group absorbed most but not all the Algerian nationalist organisations. It then re-organised itself and established a provisional government. This government included five members in executive and legislative bodies; all the members were district heads. During the ongoing war of independence in Algeria; Colonel Houari Boumedienne (the future President of Algeria) led t ...
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Morice Line
The Morice Line was a defensive line that went into effect in September 1957 during the Algerian War. It was constructed by the French to prevent the rebel guerrillas of the Algerian National Liberation Front from entering Algeria, then a French colony, from two neighboring countries, Tunisia and Morocco. It was named after then French Minister of Defence André Morice. Design The center of the Morice Line was a 2.5 m high electric fence that ran its entire length. This electric fence carried 5,000 volts and also had barbed wire entanglement on one side. On each side of the fence was a minefield that extended 45 meters to each side. On the Algerian side there was also a patrolled track. The Morice Line was 460 km long along the border with Tunisia and 700 km long along the border with Morocco, and was built with then state-of-the-art electronic systems and a mined barrage. These alarms, radars and searchlights, and the use of anti-personnel landmines helped to coordinate ...
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Tuareg Rebellion (2012)
The Tuareg Rebellion of 2012 was an early stage of the Mali War; from January to April 2012, a war was waged against the Malian government by rebels with the goal of attaining independence for the northern region of Mali, known as Azawad. It was led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and was part of a series of insurgencies by traditionally nomadic Tuaregs which date back at least to 1916. The MNLA was formed by former insurgents and a significant number of heavily armed Tuaregs who fought in the Libyan Civil War. On 22 March, President Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a coup d'état over his handling of the crisis, a month before a presidential election was to have taken place. Mutineering soldiers, under the banner of the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and State, (CNRDR) suspended the constitution of Mali, although this move was reversed on 1 April. The Islamist group Ansar Dine, too, began fighting the government in l ...
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Gandourah
The Gandoura, also Gandura, is a kind of light tunic, in wool or cotton, with or without sleeves. It normally comes in colored stripes, or more simply white, and is worn primarily in the Middle East, North Africa and West Africa, where it is known by the misnomer djellaba or jalabiya. The term gandoura is Berber in origin. See also * Djellaba * Burnous A burnous ( ber, ⴰⴱⵔⵏⵓⵙ ), also burnoose, bournous or barnous, is a long cloak of coarse woollen fabric with a pointed hood, often white in colour, traditionally worn by Berber and other Maghrebi men. In the Maghreb, the colour o ... * Fez References Moroccan clothing Robes and cloaks Algerian clothing {{clothing stub ...
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French Language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French (Francien) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents, most of which are members of the '' Organisation internationale de la Francopho ...
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Seroual
Sirwal, also sherwal, saroual, seroual, sarouel or serouelSmith, Robin (199''American Civil War Zouaves'', p. 52. Osprey PublishingAt Google Books. Retrieved 23 August 2013. ( ar, سِرْوَال (''sirwāl''), (''šalvâr'') ku, شه‌واڵ (''shawal'') Tat: ''şalvar'' ur, شلوار (''shalwâr'') tr, şalvar az, şalvar kk, шалбар (''şalbar'') sh, (шалваре) bn, সালোয়ার (''shalwar'') also known, in some contexts, as (a subtype of) Harem pants, are a form of trousers predating Hellenic influence in the Balkans. They are typically worn in Muslim countries, but also extensively in the Polish Commonwealth, in Mallorca, in the Greek countryside, and other places in the Balkans that were influenced by Ottoman Turks prior to World War II. The trousers are not originally an Arab garment but were introduced from Persia to other Mideastern regions. The sirwal is also worn by communities in North India. The drawstring allows the sirwal to be worn at ei ...
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Timimoun
Timimoun ( ar, ﺗﻴﻤﻴﻤﻮن) is a town and commune, and capital of Timimoun District, in Adrar Province, south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 33,060, up from 28,595 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 1.5%. Timimoun is known for the red ochre color of its buildings. Geography The town of Timimoun lies at an elevation of around in the Gourara region of northern Adrar Province. It is located on the south-eastern side of an oasis which supports the town's population. A sebkha (salt lake) lies further to the northwest, while the plateau of Tademaït rises to the southeast. Climate Timimoun has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ... ''BWh''), with extremely hot s ...
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