Les Combattants de la Libération (CDL), also known as ''Le Maquis Rouge'', were a guerrilla group established by the

Algerian Communist Party The Algerian Communist Party (french: Parti Communiste Algérien; ar, الحزب الشيوعي الجزائري) was a communist party in Algeria. The PCA emerged in 1920 as an extension of the French Communist Party (PCF) and eventually beca ...

(PCA) after the outbreak of the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. The FLN did not welcome a rival on the scene and its mistrust was heightened by memories of the participation of the Algerian Communist Party in the repression after the Setif riot in 1945. The FLN admitted members of the communist party into its ranks as individual members but would not countenance the existence of a separate guerrilla force. The CDL was never a large group but did have both Muslim and European members. Abdelkader Guerroudj, a Muslim, was a political officer who tried to establish a liaison between the organization and the FLN. Three European members were Maurice Laban,

Fernand Iveton Fernand Iveton (his surname is sometimes erroneously rendered as "Yveton"; 12 January 1926, Algiers – 11 February 1957) was the only pied noir among the 198 supporters of the FLN who were executed (as opposed to being killed in battle) during t ...

and

Henri Maillot Henri François Maillot (1928 in Algiers – 1956) was a Pied-Noir member of the Algerian Communist Party and participated in the Algerian War. In 1956, Maillot deserted from his military unit, taking with him an important stock of arms and am ...

. In April 1956, Maillot, a PCA member, deserted the French army, taking with him to the CDL an important stock of arms and ammunition. Less than two months later, an informer gave away their location and the group was ambushed by a unit of French army, Maillot and Laban being killed; there are suspicions that the army was assisted by information leaked by the FLN. Less than a month later, on 1 July 1956, an agreement was signed, integrating the PCA and the CDL into the FLN.

References

Communism in Algeria Guerrilla organizations Rebel groups in Algeria {{algeria-stub