Souhane massacre

1997 massacre in Algeria

Souhane massacre
Part of Algerian Civil War
Location	Souhane, Algeria
Date	20–21 August 1997
Deaths	64 villagers

Algerian Civil War

Beginning of war 1991–1994

1990 Algerian local elections
Guemmar
1991 legislative elections
1992 coup
Assassination of Mohamed Boudiaf
Algiers
Blida
Assassinations of journalists

Escalation 1994–1996

Tazoult
Tenes
Ain Allah
Berrouaghia
Air France Flight 8969
Algiers
Sundus
Serkadji
Ain Defla
Ghardaïa
France

Massacres and reconciliation 1996–1999

Defeat of the GIA 1999–2002

Algerian massacres in 1997

Massacres in which over 50 people were killed:

Thalit massacre	3–4 April
Haouch Khemisti massacre	21 April
Daïat Labguer (M'sila) Massacre	16 June
Si-Zerrouk massacre	27 July
Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre	3 August
Souhane massacre	20–21 August
Beni-Ali massacre	26 August
Rais massacre	29 August
Beni-Messous massacre	5–6 September
Guelb El-Kebir massacre	19 September
Bentalha massacre	22 September
Sid El-Antri massacre	23–24 December
Wilaya of Relizane massacres	30 December

1998 →

The largest of the Souhane massacres took place in the small mountain town of Souhane (about 25 km south of Algiers, between Larbaa and Tablat) on 20–21 August 1997. 64 people were killed, and 15 women kidnapped; the resulting terror provoked a mass exodus, bringing the town's population down from 4000 before the massacre to just 103 in 2002. Smaller-scale massacres later took place on November 27, 1997 (18 men, 3 women, 4 children killed) and 2 March 2000, when some 10 people from a single household were killed by guerrillas. The massacres were blamed on Islamist groups such as the GIA.