Sidi-Hamed massacre

Sidi-Hamed massacre
Part of Algerian Civil War
Location	Sidi-Hamed, Algeria
Date	11 January 1998
Deaths	103-400 villagers
Injured	70 villagers
Perpetrators	Armed Islamic Group or Islamic Salvation Front (claims)
No. of participants	50 gunmen

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).

See also

• List of Algerian massacres of the 1990s

External links

• Algerian media report more killings, BBC, 12 January 1998
• New massacre reported in Algeria, BBC, 12 January 1998
• 1998: 100 die in massacre in Algeria, BBC, 11 January 1998
• Sidi Hamed : les intégristes tuent plus de cent civils, Web de l'Humanite, 13 January 1998 (french)
• Death toll of latest massacre in Algeria 400 , Turkish Daily News
• Sidi Hamed : les rescapés accusent l’AIS, Web de l'Humanite, 14 January 1998 (french)