Report from site of massacre in Sahnien, Algeria
Algeria, Local, 1/14/1998

Ongoing violence in Algeria has recently become the focus of international attention, as a surge in attacks targeting Algerian civilians coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The massacres of Algerian civilians, which began after the Algerian authorities canceled elections in which Islamist parties had taken a lead, have been ongoing for more than five years and have claimed the lives of more than 60,000 Algerians. The Armed Islamic Group (GIA) is most often blamed for the attacks, although various parties have pointed the finger of blame at the Algerian government itself.

A massacre media reports claimed over 400 lives in the Relizane province occurred on the first night of Ramadan. Another attack over last weekend in Sidi Hamed claimed a reported 400 lives. Although government figures were lower, they still acknowledged 103 dead and 70 injured in the attack. Combined with other, smaller attacks, the death toll during Ramadan may be well over 1,000.

The US and the Europeans, have advocated fact-finding missions to sort out the "complex" situation, think that there may be more to some of the massacres than can be easily explained as the results of religious extremism. US State Department spokesman James Rubin said, "We believe that the Islamic extremist organization, the GIA, is responsible for the great majority of these... Some personnel in local government guard groups may also be involved to some extent."

Iran's government has been more direct in blaming the Algerian government for the attacks -- and also implicating direct Western involvement.

Meanwhile, the Algerian government, is considering its position of barring any foreign intervention, and wether to allow a non-ministerial delegation from the European Union to visit the country to assess the situation there.

Amid these developments, ArabicNews.com sent a reporter to Algeria, who reported on conditions in a village where a massacre recently took place.

There was nothing in the small village of Sahnien west of Algeria except for starving chickens and donkeys and mass tombs dug in a small cemetery.

13 days after the massacre, utter silence is still enshrouding the village and the few huts strewn across the village. It was difficult to stand upright in one of those huts, which are made from tree branches.

The dried pools of blood and the pungent smell dominate the village, which made us move quickly. While we were moving, we found the clothes of the slain people and the ropes with which they were reportedly died.

After our tour of the village we met one of the survivors, Hamed Al Shabi. Al Shabi told us his story and said that he was living in his hut with his family, but late one night, the criminals came and asked them to open the door. They did not wait for it to open, but broke it and entered.

He heard them asking his wife about where she kept her gold. She told them there was neither gold nor money. Later his wife became silent and the children screamed, he said.

Al Shabi escaped through the darkness of the night and returned in the morning to find 120 of the inhabitants of the village dead. He only found the chicken and his donkey near his hut as the terrorists had slain everything, even the dogs.

Previous Stories:
  Hundreds die, Algeria denies numbers accuracy   (1/13/1998)
  European delegation to Algeria   (1/10/1998)
  Algeria denies involvement of government forces in massacres   (11/14/1997)

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