France’s secret chemical war in Algeria exposed
ALGIERS, Algeria (MNTV) – A shocking new documentary, unveils France’s illegal use of chemical weapons against Algerian resistance fighters and civilians during the country’s war for independence (1954–1959).
Titled Algeria… Special Weapons Units, the film is directed by Claire Pière and produced by Luc Martin-Gosset for SOLENT Production.
It presents compelling archival evidence and testimonies from former French soldiers and Algerian freedom fighters, shedding light on France’s blatant violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which it was among the first to sign.
Historian Christophe Lafaye, whose research informs much of the documentary, reveals how French authorities secretly authorized chemical warfare despite international commitments.
Among the most damning evidence is a 1956 letter from the Joint Commander-in-Chief of the 10th Military Region to Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury, then Minister of State for the Armed Forces, explicitly referencing the “use of chemical means.”
The documentary details how France established a Special Weapons Unit in December 1956, deploying World War I-era CN2D gas—a lethal mix of arsenic-based adamsite and chloroacetophenone (CN)—to target Algerian fighters in mountain caves.
Under the orders of General Raoul Salan, these gas attacks intensified under the Challe Plan by 1959, with an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 incidents occurring over the course of the war. So far, 440 attacks have been documented.
One of the most devastating episodes highlighted in the film is the Ghar Ben Shatouh massacre in the Aures region, where a gas attack on March 22, 1959, killed approximately 150 civilians.
Despite the horrors inflicted during its colonial rule, France did not formally ban chemical weapons until 1993—long after the Algerian War had ended.
The 52-minute documentary, airing first on the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation before a scheduled broadcast on France 5 on March 16, brings to light a buried chapter of colonial brutality.
It serves as a sobering reminder of the human cost of war and the lingering wounds of imperialism.
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