The Si Zerrouk massacre took place in the Si Zerrouk neighborhood in the south of Larbaa in Algeria on 27 July 1997. About 50 people were killed. During the bloody Algerian civil conflict of the 1990s, a variety of massacres occurred. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. ... April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). ... The Haouch Khemisti massacre took place before dawn on 22 April 1997 in the Algerian village of Haouch Mokhfi Khemisti (also spelled Boughelef Khemisti, Haouch Boughlef-Khemisti, Haouch Boukhelef-Khemisti, Haouch Boughfi el-Khemisti, Haouch Boughelaf, or Haouch Khmisti Bougara), some 25 km south of Algiers near Bougara. ... April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... The Dairat Labguer massacre took place on June 16, 1997 - less than two weeks after parliamentary elections - in the hamlet of Dairat Labguer (also (mis)spelled Dairat Labguar, Dairat Lebguar, Daïat Labguer, Daïret Lebguer, Dairet Lebguer) near Msila, 300 km southeast of Algiers. ... June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... The Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre took place on 3 August 1997 in two villages near Arib (see map) in the wilaya of Ain Defla, Algeria. ... August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. ... August 21 is the 233rd day of the year (234th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The Beni-Ali massacre took place in the mountain hamlet of Beni Ali, 40 miles south of Algiers near Chrea, on 26 August 1997. ... August 26 is the 238th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (239th in leap years). ... On August 29, 1997, what may have been Algerias bloodiest massacre of the 1990s occurred at the village of Rais, near Larbaa and south of Algiers. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... The Beni-Messous massacre took place on the night of September 5, 1997, in Sidi Youssef, an outlying neighborhood of the town of Beni-Messous. ... September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ... The Guelb El-Kebir massacre took place in a small town near Beni Slimane (Medea, Algeria; see map) on the night of the 19-20 September 1997. ... September 19 is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years). ... At the village of Bentalha, west of Algiers (Algeria), on the night of September 22-23, 1997, more than 200 villagers were killed by armed guerrillas. ... September 22 is the 265th day of the year (266th in leap years). ... The Sid El-Antri massacre took place on the night of 23- 24 December 1997 in two small villages near Tiaret, Algeria. ... December 24 is the 358th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (359th in leap years). ... December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 1 day remaining. ... The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, or Algeria, is a nation in north Africa, and the second largest country on the African continent. ... July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. ...

In 1997, Algeria was at the peak of a brutal civil conflict that had begun after the military's cancellation of 1992 elections set to be won by the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS). Two major Islamist guerrilla groups, GIA and AIS, and several minor ones, were fighting the government. Larbaa (see map  (http://www.fallingrain.com/world/AG/20/Larba.html)) was a major center for the FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army (AIS), which the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) had recently declared war on; Mustapha Kartali, a former GIA chief who had split from in in 1995 and become head of the AIS's Katibat Errahamane brigade, was based in the area. 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Islamic Salvation Front (تحرير الجبهة الإسلامية للإنقاذ) (French: Front Islamique du Salut) is an outlawed Islamist political party in Algeria. ... FIS could stand for, in French International Ski Federation Islamic Salvation Front This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from French Groupe Islamique Armé) is a militant Islamist group with the declared aim of overthrowing the Algerian government and replacing it with an Islamic state. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On the afternoon of 27 July 1997, the electricity went out. That night, a number of guerrillas armed with shotguns, knives, and sabres (30 according to The Economist, 100 according to Liberte) stormed into the area by night and started breaking into homes and cutting the residents' throats, killing men, women, and babies, and burning some victims alive. They also blew up their houses. About 50 people (most papers reported 47; Le Matin reported 58) were killed. July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. ... Front cover, February 21, 2004 The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication of The Economist Newspaper Limited in London. ...

The massacre was presumed to be the work of the GIA. According to Robert Moore of The Observer as quoted by Ahmed Bouzid (http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/jan99bouzed.htm) in Zmag: "in the village of Larbaa the attack took place 300 yards from a large barracks." The New York Times confirms that "the electricity had been cut in the town before the assault and the attack occurred close to an army barracks" (Roger Cohen, "Despite freeing of a militant, no letup in Algerian strife", The New York Times, 2 August 1997, as cited by Algeria-Watch  (http://www.algeria-watch.de/mrv/mrvmass/halte.htm)). Gia is a 1998 film about the life of bisexual drug-abusing supermodel Gia Marie Carangi. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... ZNet, of Z Communications, founded in 1995, is a large website updated many times daily to convey information and provide community, generally focusing on politics from a left-wing perspective. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

External links

• Economist (http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_ID=152912&subject=Algeria)
• Arabic News (http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/970731/1997073131.html)
• Arabic News (http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/970728/1997072818.html)
• Business Recorder (http://www.paksearch.com/br97/Jul/30/rebelski.htm)
• Histoire des civilisations (http://www.lemanlake.com/french/chronos_89.htm)
• "The Massacres in Algeria: Behind the Wall of Silence" (http://www.icna.org/tm/algeria31.htm)