PLATEAU SAULIERE

CASINO DE LA CORNICHE

The last great outrage of the CCE terrorists was a bomb attack on a popular night spot. On the evening of 9 June 1957, a time bomb concealed in the orchestra pit of the Casino de la Corniche exploded and killed 11 people. More than 80 were left wounded in an operation personally directed by Saadi Yacef.

A FEARFUL PRISON

The compound once known as Prison Barberousse became a holding pen for several hundred FLN fighters and activists. Many endured horrific torture, either through beatings or electrocution. Among its notable inmates was the poet Moufdi Zakaria, who later composed the Algerian national anthem.

THE MASTERMIND FALLS

Once his location was betrayed, units of the First Foreign Parachute Regiment stormed Saadi Yacef’s hideout in No. 3 Rue Caton on 24 September. He was captured along with his girlfriend Zohra Drif. Born and bred in the Casbah, after the war he wrote a memoir, Souvenirs from the Battle of Algiers.

BAB EL OUED

The long Bab el Oued avenue skirting the Casbah and leading out of the city formed an informal front line separating the CCE terrorists and the French. On 28 December 1956, several bombs were detonated along its length. This marked the peak of the terror campaign directed by Saadi Yacef.

MARTYRS’ SQUARE

The intersection known as Place des Martyrs was the gateway to the Casbah. By the 1950s the majority European population of Algiers had swelled to 200,000 – making them easy targets for the FLN. Nearly 12,000 uniformed French soldiers and police were engaged in suppressing the Casbah by 1957. It was ironic that the mayor’s office, army headquarters, and the FLN’S main hideout were all minutes away from each other.

THE CASBAH’S CATHEDRAL

Even religious edifices weren’t spared from being targeted. The Cathedral of St Philippe used to be a mosque until its conversion in 1845. In 1956, just days away from New Year’s eve, a bomb was detonated outside it. The Cathedral towered over the Casbah behind it, which was a teeming slum of some 80,000 Arabs crowded into a few square kilometres.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF AUDIN

One incident that cast doubt on French counterinsurgency during the battle for Algiers involved a lukewarm communist. After being arrested in his apartment on 11 June, the university lecturer Maurice Audin was never heard from again. A public inquiry revealed Audin, a French citizen born in Algeria with suspected ties to the FLN, was beaten to death – he joined the 3,000 civilians killed in Algiers between 1956 and 1957.

THE GREAT STRIKE

The storied docks of Algiers had a pivotal role in the struggle for the capital. During the last week of January 1957 an eight-day strike by 350,000 Arab residents, with backing from the FLN, was supposed to shut down the whole city. But French soldiers forced dockworkers back to their jobs at gunpoint. This broke the momentum of the strike and weakened the Casbah terrorists’ influence.