| Benachour Massacre of 5 January 1997 | |
|---|---|
| Part of Algerian Civil War | |
| Location | Benachour, Blida, Algeria |
| Date | 5 January 1997 |
| Target | Algerians |
| Deaths | 26 (16 villagers, 10 attackers) [1] |
| Perpetrators | Armed Islamic Group of Algeria |
No. of participants | 50 attackers [2] |
The Benachour Massacre of 5 January 1997 took place in the village of Benachour located 50km south of Algiers and 2km from Blida. The massacre was part of the Algerian Civil War. [1]
On the night in question, an armed Islamist commando belonging to the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria attacked the village, However, the citizens who suffered a previous attack on December 5th 1996, that killed 19 people, made a self defense group, [1] [3] [4] [2] managing to kill 10 attackers before the commando could retreat, nevertheless the attackers managed to enter several houses killing 16 civilians, the majority of whom were women and children. [1] [2]