Sidi-Hamed massacre

January 1998 massacre in northern Algeria
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Sidi-Hamed massacre
Part of Algerian Civil War
LocationSidi-Hamed, Algeria
Date11 January 1998
Deaths103-400 villagers
Injured70 villagers
PerpetratorsArmed Islamic Group or Islamic Salvation Front (claims)
No. of participants
50 gunmen
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Algerian Civil War
Beginning of war 1991–1994

Escalation 1994–1996

Massacres and reconciliation 1996–1999

Defeat of the GIA 1999–2002

Algerian massacres in 1998
Massacres in which over 50 people were killed:
Wilaya of Relizane massacres 4 January
Sidi-Hamed massacre 11 January
Oued Bouaicha massacre 26 March
Baloul massacre 2 September
Tadjena massacre 8 December
← 1997
1999 →
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The Sidi-Hamed massacre took place on the night of January 11, 1998 (the last day of Ramadan), in the town of Sidi-Hamed (or Sidi-Hammad), 30 km south of Algiers. An estimated fifty gunmen participated, attacking children and adults; they bombed a café where films were being watched and a mosque in nearby Haouche Sahraoui, killing those who fled, and entered houses to kill those within. According to official figures, 103 people were killed and 70 injured, including two pro-government fighters and five of the attackers. Other sources indicate a higher toll; AFP supposedly counted over 120 corpses, and some Algerian newspapers claimed 400. Thirty girls were reportedly kidnapped. The massacre was generally blamed on the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA). One newspaper claimed that survivors blamed it on the Islamic Salvation Front (AIS).

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