Battle of Agounennda

Battle of Agounennda
Part of Algerian War
Date 23–25 May 1957 Location Agounennda, Algeria Result French victory Si Azzedine escape French forces but with heavy casualties Marcel Bigeard operation is a success[1]
Belligerents
French Republic	FLN
Commanders and leaders
Colonel Marcel Bigeard	Commander Si Azzedine
Strength
700 soldiers[2]	300 militants[3]
Casualties and losses
78 killed including a captain [2]	97 killed 12 captured unknown number wounded[2]

The Battle of Agounennda was an engagement of the Algerian War fought from the 23–25 May 1957 between the French 3rd Colonial Parachute Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Marcel Bigeard and FLN’s Commando 41 (‘Ali Khodja’) under Si Azzedine. Bigeard and his regiment were sent to hunt down the Commando after it had carried out several successful ambushes against French units. They met at Agounennda where the French paratroopers tried to ambush the FLN force, but the FLN discovered the French and instead concentrated their force against an outlying French company.

Bigeard managed to redeploy and surround the FLN force; it withdrew successfully albeit with heavy casualties. However, the French were unable to recover large caches of weapons - the FLN having taken them off the field. The battle altered FLN tactics, reminding them that they were unable to meet the French in open battle. Conversely, it gave the French renewed confidence in a military victory. However, sceptics on both sides saw it as evidence that neither faction would ever gain ascendancy in the other's arena. The FLN avoided military combat with the French, relying on guerilla warfare.^[4]