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68 years ago, the Ali Khoudja commando led a fierce battle in Bouzegza
National liberation war
68 years ago, the Ali Khoudja commando of the National Liberation Army (ALN) led a heroic and fierce battle against the French colonial forces which launched, on August 4, 1957, a vast sweeping on the heights of Mont de Bouzegza.
Contacted by the APS, Ahmed Rahem, a 90 -year -old mujahideen, section chief within the ALN operating in region 1 then 2 stretching from Tablat (Médéa) to Palestro (Estale Lakhdaria) in the historic Wilaya IV, returned to facts of this battle led to the heights of Mont Bouzegza, east of Mitidja and near the current Lakhdaria (Bouira).
“This historic battle took place following a great rattlement launched by enemy troops in search of combatants of the national revolution,” said Rahem who joined the maquis at the end of 1955, while specifying that he did not personally participate in this battle, but that he had echoes through his comrades in arms having taken part in the fights.
In Bouzegza, the prestigious commando Ali Khoudja, an elite unit of the Glorious ALN fighters of the historic Wilaya IV, led from August 4 to 12, 1957 heroic battles against the colonial army which, he said, was forcefully deployed to tighten the vice on the sections of the ALN activating in this difficult region of access.
“The whole region of Lakhdaria and Bouzegza was, that day, under reinforced control of the colonial forces which ratified broad, which made the withdrawal and exit of our fighters difficult. Some fell on the field of honor during this battle which lasted several days, ”says the Moudjahid Rahem.
In his memoirs and testimonies delivered previously, the Comaant de l’ALN, Rabah Zerari, known as the “Si Azzedine”, spread at length on the historical facts of this battle during which the colonial forces wiped heavy losses going, according to him, up to 600 French soldiers killed in the clashes with the ALN fighters.
Faced with the great deployment of French troops in this region, the Council of the Historical Wilaya IV, then chaired by the commander Si M’hamed Bouguerra, who still assured the interim of the command after the departure for Tunis of Colonel Si Sadk, had decided to launch an offensive against the French military bases and units installed in the towns and villages of the region, according to the commander “Si Azzedine”.
This strategy appeared to be the only solution likely to loosen the vice on the sections and groups of combatants of the ALN. In early August 1957, and in application of the order of the Historical Wilaya IV Council, all the combatant units of the wilaya took action. Zerari reported, in previous testimonies, that his perfect knowledge of the Tablat region, its relief and sensitive colonial military facilities, allowed him to designate the Ali Khoudja commando to lead an attack in order to sow panic in the ranks of the enemy camp.
But, arriving at night around the Djebel Zima, the mujahideen was surprised by a strong presence of the heavily equipped French troops which were visibly preparing to launch a large rattlement.
“We managed to get around the enemy and head for the Bouzegza massif. While we progress to Djebel Zima, in the center of the Khemis Khechna-Tablat-Lakhdaria triangle, the other units had launched lightning attacks on all the targets that had been determined. A section led by the Moudjahid if Boualem had successfully operated against Palestro, ”testified the commander Si Azzedine.
In the Djebel Zima region on August 4, 1957, it was approximately 3 p.m., everything seemed quiet. Suddenly, the enemy troops, strongly armed, swept through the scene and it was where the battle began, testified the commander Si Azzedine, adding that in the face of the large number of French soldiers and the means deployed on the scene of the battle by the French army, the seasoned combatants of the ALN have succeeded in the outing of the rattlement by inflicting strong losses on the French enemy.
RC