Battle of Bab El Oued
The Battle of Bab el Oued () was a violent confrontation which occurred during the latter stages of the Algerian War (1954–1962) between the French Army and the Organisation armée secrète (OAS) which opposed Algerian independence. It took place in Bab El Oued, a traditionally white working-class quarters of Algiers, from 23 March to 6 April 1962. Context. The OAS uprising (19 March). The OAS was an organization of hard-line European "Pieds Noirs" living in (the then-French territory) Algeria who were opposed to the cease-fire announced by French president Charles de Gaulle  on 19 March 1962 between French forces and the Front de libération nationale (FLN) forces fighting for Algerian Independence. The OAS decided to dig in at their stronghold of Bab El Oued (a traditionally European working-class area) to fight the Evian Agreements by force. Siege of Bab el Oued (from 23 March to 6 April). The Battle of Bab el Oued was principally a battle between the French Gendarmerie Mobile and the OAS Commando Delta. The French government forces used M8 Greyhound armoured cars to control the exits to the town whilst suspicious buildings were surveilled from the air  by T-6 and T-28 aircraft departing from Boufarik Air Base. Four T-6s strafed the roofs to clear them from snipers after Army helicopters dropped canisters with tear gas. As part of the attack, naval artillery support from the T 47 class destroyers "Surcouf" and "Maillé-Brézé" was planned, though it soon became evident that this was not practical and the bombardment was called off. Most of the troops setting siege to the quarter had been ferried to Algeria by "Surcouf" and "Maillé-Brézé," along with other three destroyers, on 2 March. In support of Bab-el Oued, 200 OAS "maquis  marched from Algiers to Ouarsenis, a mountainous region between Oran and Algiers. They tried to capture two French military outposts and gain support from local Muslim tribes loyal to France, but instead these forces were harassed and eventually defeated by Legion units led by Colonel Albert Brothier after several days of fighting. Arrest of General Jouhaud (25 March). On 25 March 1962, General Edmond Jouhaud (adjutant to the commander of the OAS Raoul Salan and commander of the OAS-Oranie," the Oran branch of the OAS) was arrested at the "Hôtel Panoramic d'Oran" with his adjutant, Commander Julien Camelin. Massacre  on the "rue d'Isly" (26 March). The massacre on the "rue d'Isly" () was the action on 26 March in which a largely peaceful demonstration of pro-French Algeria Pied-Noirs against the blockade tried to force their way through French roadblocks around the "Grande Poste" ("Great Post-Office"). The protesters ran into a road block manned by 45 soldiers of the "4e régiment de tirailleurs algériens (4e RTA)" (4th regiment of Algerian riflemen) who fired on the crowd. The official death toll given by the French government was 54 killed and 140 injured. Casualties. According to the historian Benjamin Stora , 35 people were killed during the Battle of Bab el Oued and around 150 were wounded. Six French soldiers were killed by the OAS in a previous ambush.