The Story of the Battle of Algiers
The Story of the Battle of Algiers (1956–1957)
In the heart of Algiers during 1956–1957, a fierce and symbolic chapter of the Algerian War of Independence unfolded—The Battle of Algiers. This urban guerrilla campaign, orchestrated by the National Liberation Front (FLN), was designed to bring the fight for independence directly into the French-controlled capital of Algeria.
At the center of this campaign was Ali La Pointe, a former petty criminal turned FLN fighter. He became one of the key leaders of the resistance in the Casbah, the old city of Algiers. Under his leadership, the FLN carried out bombings, assassinations, and coordinated attacks aimed at destabilizing French colonial rule and drawing international attention to their cause.
The French government responded by sending in General Jacques Massu and his 10th Parachute Division. Massu’s men used harsh tactics: torture, curfews, mass arrests, and executions. Their intelligence networks—often built through brutal interrogation—were designed to dismantle the FLN’s urban structure.
Ali La Pointe, along with a small group of fighters including a 16-year-old boy named Omar, hid out in the Casbah as French troops closed in. On October 8, 1957, French paratroopers surrounded their safe house. Refusing to surrender, Ali and his comrades were killed when French forces detonated explosives to destroy the house.
Though the FLN lost the Battle of Algiers militarily, the event became a turning point. It exposed the harshness of French counterinsurgency tactics to the world, especially the use of torture, and fueled global support for Algerian independence. The battle is now a symbol of urban resistance and anti-colonial struggle, immortalized in the famous 1966 film The Battle of Algiers.
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