Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 30 December 1997

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Algerian massacres in 1997
Massacres in which over 50 people were killed:
Thalit massacre	3 - 4 April
Haouch Khemisti massacre	21 April
Dairat Labguer massacre	16 June
Si-Zerrouk massacre	27 July
Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre	3 August
Souhane massacre	20 - 21 August
Beni-Ali massacre	26 August
Rais massacre	29 August
Beni-Messous massacre	5 - 6 September
Guelb El-Kebir massacre	19 September
Bentalha massacre	22 September
Sid El-Antri massacre	23 - 24 December
Wilaya of Relizane massacres	30 December
1996 - [Edit] - 1998

The Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 30 December 1997 were probably the single bloodiest day of killing in the Algerian conflict of the 1990s. 78 people (initial official estimate), 252 people (according to Le Matin and El Watan, quoting hospital sources), 272 people (according to the Algerian government's statement to the UN Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2000/3/Add.1) or 412 people (according to Liberté) were killed in four villages.

In 1998, Algeria was near the peak of a brutal civil conflict that had begun after the military's cancellation of 1992 elections set to be won by the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). The arid, inaccessible, poor Ouarsenis Mountains about 150 miles west of Algiers had previously experienced little or no violence. In the 1997 elections, the inhabitants had mainly voted for the pro-government FLN and RND.

On the first day of Ramadan, at about 6:15 pm, assailants, armed with axes and knives, swept down on four farming villages in the Ammi Moussa area (see map), and killed hundreds of people as they sat down to break their fast:

at Kherarba or Ouled Kherarba or Khrouba or Khourba (see map), 21 (official) or 176 (Liberté) were killed;
at Sahnoun or Ouled Sahnoun or Ouled Sahnine or Ouled Sahrine or Ouled Sahine (see map), 29 or 113 were killed;
at El-Abadel or Al Abadel, 73 (Liberté) were killed;
at Ouled-Tayeb or Oulad Taieb or Ben Taïyeb or Douar Ouled Tayeb (see map), 28 or 50 were killed.

The attackers killed families indiscriminately in their homes, men, women, children, and babies, beheading some and butchering others. They threw babies over walls, and reportedly even butchered dogs and livestock. They left only at dawn. The assailants were dressed as "Afghans". Survivors were quoted in the Algerian press as identifying the leader of the assailants as Aoued Abdallah, called "Cheikh Noureddine", a head in western Algeria of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). It was also reported that pamphlets distributed in Algiers previously had announced ""We will arrive here soon. We have breakfasted in Algiers, we will dine in Oran. Signed - GIA". The massacres were followed shortly afterwards by the Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 4 January 1998; together, these events provoked a widespread exodus from the region.

The Algerian government told the UN Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2000/3/Add.1) that "On 31 December 1997, a judicial inquiry was opened and on 8 February 1998 the examining magistrate ordered that further investigations be carried out. The legal proceedings continue."

[edit] Eyewitness accounts

Quoted by Reuters, Jan. 4:

"From just two houses I had to pull out at least 80 corpses," said one rescue worker, Hadj, quoted by the newspaper. "I leave you to imagine the extent of the catastrophe in four hamlets."

"Fifteen people of the same family had their throats cut and were then buried under the (family store of) semolina (for couscous, traditional North African food)," Liberte quoted one survivor named only as Ali, saying about the Tuesday slaughter.

Liberte quoted Taos, a girl of 16 who escaped being taken last Tuesday, saying: "I was trampled on everywhere by several individuals before being struck with an axe in my stomach."

Quoted by Hassane Zerrouky in Humanité, 5 Jan.:

Les assaillants ont été décrits vêtus à l’afghane, la tenue que porte en général les groupes du GIA. "Ma femme et mes sept enfants ont été égorgés", raconte un blessé. "L’islam n’est pas ainsi", a ajouté un autre. Le journaliste de "Liberté", qui s’est rendu sur les lieux, a ajouté que "même le bétail et les chiens ont été égorgés".

The assailants were described as dressed like Afghans, the usual costume of GIA groups. "My wife and my seven children were butchered", recounts a wounded man. "Islam is not like this," added another. The journalist of "Liberté", who went there, added that "even the livestock and dogs had been butchered."

Des rescapés, cités par la presse algérienne, ont identifié formellement Aoued Abdellah, dit Cheikh Noureddine, un chef du GIA de l’ouest algérien, comme étant celui qui dirigeait le commando de tueurs.

Some survivors, cited by the Algerian press, formally identified Aoued Abdallah, called Cheikh Noureddine, a head of the GIA of western Algeria, as the one who led the killers.

Quoted by Rachid Khiari, Associated Press:

"We're almost done here," one gang leader was overheard saying on a walkie-talkie.

"I pulled out 50 mutilated bodies from one house and 30 from another," said Hadj Mohammed, a villager in Khourba, home to about 200 families.

"I can't get rid of the smell of blood," said one nurse, her blouse splattered with gore, before bursting into tears.

Many surviving families planned to move to the nearby port of Oran, villager Amar Meziani said. "Leaving is better than dying," Meziani said. "I'm leaving everything here, my house, my crops, what's left of my livestock. To go where? I don't know, but I can't stay here. "I'm too old to carry a weapon. I'll return when it's calm."