The ''Fellagha'', an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

word literally meaning "bandits" (الفلاقة, singular الفلاق), refers to groups of armed militants affiliated with anti-colonial movements in

French North Africa French North Africa (, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is a term often applied to the three territories that were controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. In contrast to French ...

. It most often is used to refer to armed Algerian nationalists who adopted violent means in order to push the French out of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

as well as groups in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

who did the same. They were particularly important during the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

(1954–1962) led by the National Liberation Front.

Tunisian Fellagha

In Tunisia, Fellagha activity began after the assassination of labor leader

Farhat Hached Farhat Hached (; 2 February 1914 – 5 December 1952) was a Tunisians, Tunisian labor unionist and activist who was assassinated by ''La Main Rouge'', a France, French terrorist organization operated by French foreign intelligence. He was one of ...

in late 1952. The fellagha attacked French colonial governance infrastructure as well as the property of French '' colons'' or settlers. The fellagha were somewhat disorganized but retained some links to the Hached's union, the UGTT, and the main national party, the

Neo-Destour The New Constitutional Liberal Party (, '; French language, French: ''Nouveau Parti libéral constitutionnel''), most commonly known as Neo Destour, was a Tunisian political party founded in 1934 in Dar Ayed, the house of independence activist Ah ...

. The Neo-Destour was able to use its influence over the fellagha to convince France to guarantee Tunisia's internal autonomy.

References

"Revolt of the Fellagha"
''Time'' magazine, 26 December 1955 Military units and factions of the Algerian War Arabic words and phrases {{arabic-lang-stub