Tamesguida offensive

In early 1997, the Algerian army launched a military operation in the Tamesguida region of Médéa Province, located approximately 65 kilometers southwest of Algiers. According to Liberté, an Algerian newspaper, more than 60 militants were killed during the offensive. The region had become a known stronghold for armed Islamist groups. In previous years, Tamesguida had been the site of several massacres for example in 1993, 22 soldiers were killed in an assault on military barracks, that same year 12 Croatian construction workers were killed later that same year.^[1][2][3]