Algeria Celebrates 70th Anniversary Of Revolt Against French Rule
By
OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
A military parade was held in Algiers Friday to mark 70 years since the beginning of the Algerian revolution.
Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune took part in the parade, saluting to cheering crowds from a tank before presiding over the ceremony.
On November 1, 1954, Algeria’s National Liberation Front attacked French targets in Algeria, setting off the Algerian War which led to the country’s independence from France.
The country officially declared independence on July 5, 1962, after a seven-year war that ended 132 years of french colonial rule.
The war, which Algeria experts say killed around 1.5 million people, remains a point of tension in relations between Algeria and France.
The anniversary of the revolution is often used as an occasion to offer pardons.
Algerian journalist Ihsane El Kadi, a journalist who was a key voice during the country’s 2019 pro-democracy protests, was released from prison Thursday evening along with eight others who were imprisoned after criticized the state.
