| Ghardaïa raid | |
|---|---|
| Part of Algerian Civil War | |
| Location | Ghardaïa, Algeria |
| Date | 5 May 1995 |
| Target | Pipeline workers |
| Deaths | 5 foreigners, 1 policeman |
| Injured | 4 policemen |
| Perpetrator | Armed Islamic Group |
No. of participants | 20 militants |
The Ghardaïa raid took place in a heavily guarded pipeline near the town of Ghardaïa on 5 May 1995 during the Algerian Civil War.
Background
The attack occurred at 5 a.m. when a group of about 20 Islamist militants attacked the foreign workers' barracks at dawn and then escaped. The militants killed five foreign workers and an Algerian policeman, and wounded four other officers guarding the site. The official Algerian news agency described the victims as two French citizens, one Canadian, one British and one Tunisian. All of them worked on a contract job for Anabib pipeline interprise, a company building a natural gas pipeline to ship liquefied gas to Europe. This increased the number of foreigners killed since September 1993 to 82 victims.[1] No arrests were reported. Further details about the killings were not immediately known and no group initially claimed responsibility for the attack.[2] The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) blamed the Algerian government's secret services for the murders, however the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) claimed credit on 9 May. The GIA also threatened FIS officials in Algeria, Germany, the United States and France.[3]
References
- ↑ "Algeria Militants Kill 5 Foreign Oil Workers". The New York Times. 1995-05-06. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ↑ "Five Foreigners Killed in Dawn Raid on Factory". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ↑ Mickolus, Edward F.; Simmons, Susan L. (1997). Terrorism, 1992-1995: A Chronology of Events and a Selectively Annotated Bibliography. ABC-CLIO. p. 815. ISBN 978-0-313-30468-2.