The Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 4 January 1998 took place in three remote villages around Oued Rhiou about 150 miles west of Algiers, during the Algerian conflict of the 1990s. At least 172 villagers were killed in a single day of Ramadan: During the bloody Algerian civil conflict of the 1990s, a variety of massacres occurred. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The Sidi-Hamed massacre took place on the night of January 11, 1998 (the last day of Ramadan), in the town of Sidi-Hamed (or Sidi-Hammad), 30 km south of Algiers. ... January 11 is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The Oued Bouaïcha massacre took place about 150 miles south of Algiers, near Djelfa, on March 26, 1998. ... March 26 is the 85th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (86th in leap years). ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years). ... On December 8-9, 1998, 81 villagers (45 according to the initial reports) were killed by armed groups (presumably the GIA) in three mountain villages near Tadjena, some 170 km west of Algiers, in the Chlef region of western Algeria. ... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Relizane is a wilaya of Algeria. ... An atrocity (from the Latin atrox, atrocious, from Latin ater = matte black (as distinct from niger = shiny black)) is a term used to describe crimes ranging from an act committed against a single person to one committed against a population or ethnic group. ... January 4 is the 4th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... For other uses, see Algiers (disambiguation). ... The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, or Algeria, is a nation in north Africa, and the second largest country on the African continent. ... Ramadan or Ramadhan (Arabic: رمضان ) is the ninth month of the Islamic year. ...

• at Had Chekala, no residents survived; more than 30 guerrillas burned the village down afterwards
• at Remka (or Ramka, or Meknessa; see map  (http://www.fallingrain.com/world/AG/0/Ramka.html)), 117 killed. A survivor told La Tribune "One pregnant woman had her fetus cut out and slaughtered."
• at Ain Tarik, an unknown number were killed

The massacres were attributed to the GIA, and had been preceded some days before by the Wilaya of Relizane massacres of 30 December 1997. They provoked mass population flight from the afflicted area - the population of Ramka, for instance, dropped from 9,200 in 1990 to 5,215 in 1998 - and led to international condemnation and calls for an independent investigation. Gia is a 1998 film about the life of bisexual drug-abusing supermodel Gia Marie Carangi. ...

See also

• List of Algerian massacres of the 1990s

During the bloody Algerian civil conflict of the 1990s, a variety of massacres occurred. ...

External links

• BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/45215.stm)
• BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/45439.stm)
• Irish Examiner (http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/1998/01/07/fhead.htm)
• CNN (http://www-cgi.cnn.com/WORLD/9801/09/algeria/)
• IDP Survey (http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/IdpProjectDb/idpSurvey.nsf/wCountries/Algeria/$file/Algeria+-March+2004.doc)