After pursuing Ouled Riah people who had taken refuge in caves in the Dahra, French troops under Colonel Pélissier sealed the entrances and burned fuel, suffocating those inside. The victims included civilians. Contemporary criticism and later scholarship document the atrocity, although published victim estimates vary. A 2025 scholarly discussion cites at least 700 deaths; this chronology does not treat that estimate as a verified roll of named victims. The killing formed part of a wider strategy of raids and destruction of resources used to break resistance.
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How did French forces kill people taking refuge in the Dahra caves?
Accounts of the 18 June 1845 cave killings describe suffocation by smoke after the entrances were sealed.
The Dahra cave killings targeted only French soldiers.
The victims were members of the Ouled Riah community, including civilians.