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 largest of the Souhane massacres took place in the small mountain town of Souhane (about 25 km south of Algiers, between Larbaa and Tablat) on the 20-21 August 1997. 64 people were killed, and 15 women kidnapped; the resulting terror provoked a mass exodus, bringing the town's population down from 4000 before the massacre to just 103 in 2002. Smaller-scale massacres later took place on November 27, 1997 (18 men, 3 women, 4 children killed) and 2 March 2000, when some 10 people from a single household were killed by guerrillas. The massacres were blamed on Islamist groups such as the GIA.