Word: fellaghas
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French revenge is efficient. So far this year, the French army in Algeria has killed 2,200 suspected fellagha. Yet far from being stamped out, the fellagha revolt is spreading. It has long since dwarfed the Mau Mau war in Kenya; it now threatens France with another Indo-China, this time in Europe's backyard...
Dwarfing the Mau Mau. The killers call themselves fellagha (outlaws). They are nationalists-turned-terrorists, who are fast transforming France's most prized colony (technically a part of metropolitan France) into its greatest colonial hazard. In the first nine days of December, in the single departement of Constantine, they stormed five towns and villages, shot up six others, burned 34 houses, farms and schools, chopped down 2,244 vines and fruit trees belonging to French colons, destroyed 458 farm animals, killed or wounded 46 French soldiers, 49 civilians. Last week they ambushed a French armored column and killed...
State of Siege. At 1 a.m. on Nov. 1, 1954, the fellagha revolt began. At that moment, across Algeria, some 30 fellagha bands fell on the nearest French settlements and slit the colons' throats. The French sent armored columns to smash the fellagha, and the revolt seemed to fizzle out. Prefect Pierre Dupuch of the huge Constantine département announced that he had 8,000 troops and with 8,000 more could clean up the entire revolt...
...down mines and quarries, converted scores of villages into sandbagged strongpoints. It has sucked into Algeria over 200,000 French troops, including the best part of France's NATO divisions, and the bulk of the colonial army now being brought home from South Viet Nam. By contrast, the fellagha's armed strength is less than 10,000 men, possibly less than 5,000. They have no mortars, no artillery, no radios, no armored vehicles. Some fellagha are armed with rifles and Tommy guns, but most have only knives. Lacking explosives, they use axes to chop down telegraph posts...
North Africa: After a brief stint as No. 2 to the formidable Marshal Juin, Resident General in Morocco, De Latour in 1951 commanded the French occupation forces in Austria, then was sent to Tunisia to put down the fellagha rebels. He smashed the rebellion ruthlessly but managed to keep political talks going at the same time. When Premier Mendès-France dramatically flew to Tunis with his offer of home rule (TIME, Aug. 9, 1954), De Latour was made Resident General, partly as a reward, partly to appease the fears of the French colons, who thought Mend...