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In a speech delivered during the commemoration ceremony of the 67th anniversary of Sakiet Sidi Youssef events, which he co-chaired with Tunisian Head of Government, Kamel Madouri, Larbaoui, who was charged by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, emphasized that “these tragic events marked a crucial chapter in the shared struggle against French colonial rule, describing them as one of the ignominious and infamous episodes of the supposedly civilized French colonialism.”
He further recalled how colonial forces perpetrated heinous massacres against defenceless civilians using various weapons, including prohibited ones, while pursuing a policy of brutal repression and collective punishment in remote areas of rural Algeria.
“The bombing of the village of Sakiet Sidi Youssef by the French colonial air force on 8 February 1958, causing dozens of martyrs and hundreds of wounded among Algerians and Tunisians, is a striking example of colonial barbarity and its policy of collective punishment, including against those who had provided help and assistance to the National Liberation Army (ALN) in its struggle against the colonizer,” said the Prime Minister.
Larbaoui added that “the commemoration of these events each year is a precious and highly significant occasion embodying the most beautiful images of cohesion, fraternity and solidarity between the two brotherly peoples, in their common struggle to free themselves from the colonial yoke and recover sovereignty and independence,”
He further assured that these events “will continue to remind us of the immeasurable sacrifices of the valiant Martyrs, who paid a heavy price for freedom and dignity, and to whose memory we gather today with humility and from whom we will never cease to draw inspiration to mobilize energies in service of the dignity and greatness of our two brotherly countries.”
The Prime Minister declared that this historic struggle, marked by the mingled blood of Algerian and Tunisian peoples, will forever remain in our collective memory as a symbol of unity and solidarity, and an inexhaustible source of inspiration for successive generations, reinforcing our shared destiny and guiding us through present and future challenges. Particularly in light of an erratic and agitated regional and international context, in a world where peoples aspiring to freedom and dignity are still seeking self-determination and face the most abject repressive methods and policies, even genocide, while the world's conscience remains silent and the international community stands idle.
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