Algeria Marks 50th Anniversary of Independence
Fifty years ago, Algerian nationalists sparked what was to become one of the African continent's bloodiest independence wars with a series of some 60 almost simultaneous explosions, Sunday, October 31, 2004. Their meticulously planned operation targeted symbols of French rule such as police stations, municipal buildings, bridges, and electrical facilities, stunning the colonial authorities only months after France lost Indochina at Dien Bien Phu. Algerian historians have estimated the death toll among Algerians at 1.5 million.