Laghout’s Resistance
The circumstances of the resistance in Laghouat city:
The colonial administration worked on spreading the spirit of conflict and division between the leaders of the tribes and marbouts; which led to destabilization in the region, and the eruption of intense commotions at the same time when the flame of Zaatcha resistance were lit. All these details convinced France of the importance of waging a campaign in Laghouat, starting from Medea. They officially assigned general “L'ADMIRAULT” to the mission in May 1851.
On June 3rd 1851, a French column entered Djelfa; and Tribal leaders like the caliph of Laghouat, Aga Cherif Bel-Ahrech, were invited. The French leader planned to assign Bennaceur Benchohra as the caliph in Laghouat instead of Ahmed Bin Salem. Nevertheless, Bennaceur kept seeing the French as greedy invaders and refused to serve them, then joined Muhammed Bin Abd Allah, who was one of the leading symbols in the south Algerian resistance against colonization.
The city has fallen:
After going back to Laghouat, Bennaceur Benchohra entered the town's castel. On the other side, in February 1852, the Governor-general ordered general L’admirault to head to Laghouat with a column of over 1500 soldiers.
He arrived at the city gates on mars 4th, then proceeded towards Kasr el Hirane without any confrontations. He stationed there a battalion of the army and a spahis group, then returned to Laghouat. The fear from the Algerian's reaction was still present within the settlers, to the point where they sought to bring extra units from the Almoravides army in Tiaret led by general Déligny.
For its part, Muhammed Bin Abd Allah headed to the surrounding area; to discipline the tribes that refused to join him. After being informed about the movement of general L’admirault, he quickly retreated to Tadjerouna near Oued Zerkoun. He worked on gathering more tribal men and joining Bennaceur Benchohra’s army of four tribes “ Ouled Sidi Atta-Allah, Said Atba, El Mokadama Ourgla, Chaabna Mitlili, Ouled Amer Btemasin, Ouled Djelab, and people of Mizab”. This unity caused fears in the French forces, that’s why they assigned officer Collineau with the mission to gather army divisions to be ready for confrontations. Cherif Muhammed Bin Abd Allah continued to frequent Laghouat to raise awareness amongst the people; when general Yussuf found out, he used every trick in the book to lure the people in the area in exchange for Cherif’s life, but he failed. Then the governor-general decided to intervene militarily to strike Laghouat and subjugate it. Five columns were recruited and led by general Pellissier.
All these preparations were giving signs of war coming soon, and indeed the battles started on December 3rd, with different frontlines aiming to take down Laghouat. The next day, The attack continued, and the French forces were able to position themselves in strongholds and took the mosque as an operating room. The battle resulted in the death of general Bouscaren; he was replaced with colonel Clar In coordination with general Yussuf to carry out the mission of invading the city. The fight intensified in the alleyways and even the houses, the French army took a significant toll, and the Mujahideen portrayed strength and statesmanship in their resistance. Meanwhile, the artillery focused on destroying the city walls to allow the incursion of more French military who occupied the city’s high ground.
The confrontations took a long time ending with the fall of Laghouat; and terrible massacres due to atrocities committed against the citizens. Walking on their skulls, general Pellissier celebrated his victory. Beautiful rugs covered the floors of the city where he had his lunch, congratulated his officers, and appointed colonel Clar commander-in-chief of Laghouat. The locals who survived were able to withdraw, to mention a few: Cherif Muhammed Bin Abd Allah, Bennaceur Benchohra, Yahia Ben Maamer, and Teli Ben Lakhel. They realized that the confrontation lacked military parity, especially given the weight of the victim’s score, which exceeded 2500 martyrs. Not to mention the injured who were captured by French soldiers, so they can finish up their massacres. The process lasted more than a week to empty the resistance’s pockets in different regions. On the French side, there were around 60 deaths like general Bouscaren, who got buried there, And the KPC commander Moran plus the significant number of wounded.
Results of the resistance:
The fall of Laghouet was a victory for France; they considered it a big step to expand into the Algerian desert and subjugate it. Besides, it aims to:
-Subjugate Mozabite people and force them to pass through Laghouat.
- Monitoring supplies from warehouses and imposing taxes on the inhabitants of the Sahara.
- Isolate Ouled Nail tribes and the four tribes beyond mount Amor.
- Transform Laghouat into a center of management and control of commerce deep in the Sahara.
- To consider the region as a starting point for the French expansion in the Algerian Sahara. However, the resistance led by Bennaceur Benchohra and Muhammad bin Abd Allah continued at the same pace, hindering the French expansion of the desert, especially after this resistance culminated in an outbreak of the Ouled Sidi cheikh's resistance and the emergence of Muhammed Ben Toumi known as Cherif Bouchoucha.
