Algiers to recover remains of 24 Algerian fighters killed during French colonization

The remains of 24 Algerian fighters killed during French colonization will be repatriated to Algeria on military aircraft during the day, President Tebboune said on July 2.

The Algerian President announced the imminent repatriation of the remains of 24 combatants killed during French colonization. “In a few hours, Algerian military planes from France will land at Houari Boumediene international airport with the remains of 24 leaders of the Popular Resistance and their companions,” said the Algerian President during a ceremony to award ranks and medals to army officers.

These are “the remains of 24 leaders of the People’s Resistance who have been deprived of their natural and human right to be buried for over 170 years,” he said.

Their names

Among these combatants is notably Cheikh Bouziane, the leader of the Zaâtcha revolt (eastern Algeria) in 1849. Captured by the French, he was shot and then beheaded.

Also mentioned are the names of Bou Amar Ben Kedida and Si Mokhtar Ben Kouider Al Titraoui, considered as martyrs of the early days of resistance to French colonization.

Reclaimed for years by Algiers, these mortuary remains, several dozen skulls in total, were kept in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History.

During a visit to Algiers on December 6, 2017, Emmanuel Macron undertook to return them.