Challe Line

The Challe Line was an armed defense line in French Algeria located on the border between Algeria and Tunisia, doubling in 1959 the Morice Line built in July 1957. This razor barbed wire, Land mine, electric fence was constantly monitored,[1] Its name comes from General Maurice Challe, commander-in-chief in Algeria between December 1958 and March 1960. Crossing the wilayas of El Tarf and Souk Ahras to reach the two communes of El Kouif and Negrine in the wilaya of Tébessa, the Challe line partially doubled the electrified Morice line which extended over 460 km, from Annaba to Negrine via Souk Ahras and the communes of El Ma Labiodh and Bir el-Ater de Tébessa.[2]

Several hundred thousand mines remained dosile for more than 50 years. Portions of the border between Algeria and Libya were reinforced by electrified barbed wire. Many mujahideen died trying to cross the Chall line that the people of R'mila in Algeria gave it the nickname "the death line" or "the cursed line". Anti-personnel mines also claimed victims in the decades following the Algeria's independence.

The end of the demining operations of the line were finished many decades later and was announced fully finished in 2017.[3]

Notes and references

  1. ^ "ISC - CFHM - IHCC". www.institut-strategie.fr. Archived from the original on 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
  2. ^ Faivre, Maurice (2005). "Le plan Challe". Revue historique des Armées. 238 (1): 108–117. doi:10.3406/rharm.2005.5690.
  3. ^ "L'Algérie a fini le déminage des lignes Challe et Morice". Le Figaro (in French). 2017-01-31. Retrieved 2026-02-08.
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