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History will remember that the Hammam N’baïl mine attack was among the first actions of the armed struggle for national independence, through the group of Badji Mokhtar, one of the 22-Historic Member Committee," met months earlier, on 1 November 1954.

The attack was aimed at shedding a strong light on the outbreak of the Algerian Revolution, undermining the economic and military interests of the colonizer and getting weapons and military equipment.

Historian Ismail Samaï, the head of the History and Monuments Society in Guelma, said the mine of Hammam N’baïl, a region known in the colonial era as "Nador," is located 45 km east of Guelma, near the province of Souk Ahras.

The mine had been operating since 1865 for the extraction of antimony, an ore meant for the needs of Algeria and exports.

According to historian Ismail Samaï, citing a report classified as secret by the National Gendarmerie in Guelma, on 9 November 1954, fighters of the National Liberation Army recovered, in the mine attack, three military rifles (Mauser), 286 cartridges, one 9mm automatic pistol and 25 bullets, a 6mm rifle without munitions, a case of explosives (25 kg), detonators, three shears and 690,000 old francs.

The attack on the Hammam N’baïl mine had a resounding echo in the colonial media, making it a victory for the National Liberation Army that was seeking to make known the goals of its action and show that its fighters were determined to reach those goals whatever the sacrifices.

Many newspapers reported the attack on the mine with big headlines.

The late mujaheed Abdallah Nouaouria, commander of the area, along with the martyr Badji Mokhar, reported that after the mine's attack, the fighters of the National Liberation Army retreated to the mountain of Djebel Legrine, before joining the mountains of Beni Salah in Bouchegouf where they destroyed bridges in sabotage, such as that of Aïn Senour between Guelma and Souk Ahras, to stop railway traffic and the transport of iron and phosphate from the mines of Ouenza and Kouif in Tebessa.

Badji Mokhar fell in the field of honour 19 days after the outbreak of the Algerian Revolution (1 November 1954).

On 19 November 1954, the National Liberation Army lost one of its valiant leaders, namely Badjid Mokhtar, killed in an armed clash at a farm in Mzedj Safa, near the mountains of Beni Salah.

The 13 freedom fighters were surrounded in the farm by heavily armed colonial army units.

The fights lasted two days. Badji Mokhtar was killed in combat but the other mujahideen were taken prisoners.

Abdallah Nouaouria and Belkacem Kerkoub alone emerged unscathed from the encirclement, according to records kept by the office of the National Organization of Mujahideen in Hammam N’baïl.

Died at the age of 35, the martyr Badji Mokhtar was killed 19 days after the outbreak of the National Liberation War (1954-1962) in which he, and his comrades, provided a major contribution with his determination and spirit of sacrifice.

Born in Annaba on 17 April 1919, Badji Mokhtar spent his youth in Souk Ahras to which his father moved with his family.

At the age of 20, in 1936, he joined the Algerian Muslim Scouts, along with numerous companions who already held nationalistic views.

During the 1940s, he joined the Algerian People's Party, in Souk Ahras, a party banned by the French authorities of Vichy in 1939.

In 1944, he managed to get rid of the obligation of the military service, and in 1947, he became head of the Special Organization unit, created in the beginning of the same year by the (Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties (MTLD).

On 1 April 1950, he was arrested following the discovery of the Special Organisation less than two weeks earlier.

In prison, he meets the future leaders of the armed struggle of 1 November 1954. He actively contributes to the preparation of the Revolution and led the struggle in the area he was assigned to

He is buried in the Martyrs quarter in the town of M’djez Sfa, province of Guelma.

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