Bentalha Massacre - Background

Background

In 1997, Algeria was at 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). Bentalha, a town a few km south of Baraki (see map), a satellite town of Algiers, voted FIS in the elections, and many inhabitants were initially in favor of the Islamist guerrilla groups which began fighting the government after the elections' cancellation; some joined them. Initially, the guerrillas in the area belonged to the revived Armed Islamic Movement (MIA) and various independent groups; after 1994, these were integrated into the larger Armed Islamic Group (GIA). The army had a strong presence in the area, with a post on the eastern entrance of the town, a number of roadblocks, and a barracks on the north side of Baraki. The GIA too had a strong local presence; between 1994 and 1996, they walked the streets of Bentalha openly, and killed people associated with the government. The government established a "Patriot" communal guard of about ten people in Bentalha in June 1996.

On August 29, 1997, about 200 people were killed just a few kilometers to the southeast in the Rais massacre. Rumors spread that more massacres were coming soon. For ten days before the event, howling as of jackals (which are not found in the area) was heard every night, and helicopters circled overhead daily.