Algerian forces kill six fighters during raid near Tunisian border

Algeria’s defence ministry has announced that military forces killed six militants during an operation in the country’s east, seizing weapons and ammunition.

The raid took place in Tebessa province, near the Tunisian border, where army chief Said Chengriha inspected the site following the clash.

Officials reported that six Kalashnikov rifles and a large cache of ammunition were recovered, though no soldiers were killed or wounded.

Authorities often describe slain fighters as “terrorists,” a term used for terror groups that persist decades after Algeria’s civil war officially ended.

The conflict, which erupted in 1992 after cancelled elections, became known as the Black Decade and left an estimated 200,000 dead.

Although a 2005 amnesty sought to draw fighters back into civilian life, armed groups still launch sporadic attacks in remote mountainous regions.

In the first half of 2025 alone, Algeria’s counterterrorism campaigns killed at least 35 people, according to ministry figures released earlier this year.

For many Algerians, the latest operation underscores a continuing battle against shadows of the past, where silence in the hills masks lingering unrest.

The government insists its operations are essential to national security, though questions remain about the scale and resilience of the groups involved.

The ministry did not release the identities of those killed in Tebessa, leaving only weapons and numbers to speak in their place.

Scroll to Top