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Macron Acknowledges Algerian Independence Leader Was 'Killed By French Soldiers' in 1957

This handout picture taken in the fifties shows Larbi Ben M’Hidi, an Algerian anti-French leader tortured to death in 1957 - File photo by AFP
This handout picture taken in the fifties shows Larbi Ben M’Hidi, an Algerian anti-French leader tortured to death in 1957 - File photo by AFP
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Macron Acknowledges Algerian Independence Leader Was 'Killed By French Soldiers' in 1957

This handout picture taken in the fifties shows Larbi Ben M’Hidi, an Algerian anti-French leader tortured to death in 1957 - File photo by AFP
This handout picture taken in the fifties shows Larbi Ben M’Hidi, an Algerian anti-French leader tortured to death in 1957 - File photo by AFP

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday recognized that Larbi Ben M'hidi, a key figure in Algeria's War of Independence against France, had been killed by French soldiers after his arrest in 1957, the French presidency said, AFP reported.

"He recognized today that Larbi Ben M'hidi, a national hero for Algeria... was killed by French soldiers," the presidency said on the 70th anniversary of the revolt that sparked the war, in a new gesture of reconciliation by Macron towards the former colony.

On September 13, 2018, Macron officially acknowledged that the French state was responsible for the disappearance of Maurice Audin, an anti-colonial activist who was arrested during the 1957 Battle of Algiers and never seen again.

Also, on March 3, 2021, the French president admitted that the French army was behind 1957 death of Ali Boumendjel during Battle of Algiers. Before this, Boumendjel, was said to have died after falling from a sixth-floor window.

However, the Elysée affirmed in its statement that he was arrested by the French army, hidden, tortured then assassinated on 23 March 1957.

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Sudan Army Says Retakes Khartoum-Area Market from RSF

A burned military vehicle sits at Khartoum international airport a day after it was recaptured from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP)
A burned military vehicle sits at Khartoum international airport a day after it was recaptured from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP)
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Sudan Army Says Retakes Khartoum-Area Market from RSF

A burned military vehicle sits at Khartoum international airport a day after it was recaptured from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP)
A burned military vehicle sits at Khartoum international airport a day after it was recaptured from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Khartoum, Sudan, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP)

The Sudanese army said on Saturday it had taken control of a major market in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, long used by its rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) as a staging ground for attacks.

It is the latest conquest in the army's major offensive this month to wrest back control of the entire capital region, which includes Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri -- three cities split by branches of the River Nile.

The blitz saw the army recapture the presidential palace on March 21, followed by the war-damaged airport and other key sites in the city center.

In a statement, army spokesman Nabil Abdullah said forces extended "their control over Souq Libya in Omdurman" and seized "weapons and equipment left behind by" the RSF as they fled.

Souq Libya, one of the largest and busiest in the Khartoum area, had for months been an RSF stronghold and a launchpad for attacks on northern and central Omdurman since the war with the army began on April 15, 2023.

While the army already controls much of Omdurman, the RSF still holds ground in the city's west, particularly in Ombada district.

Late Thursday, the military spokesman said that the army had "cleansed" Khartoum itself from "the last pockets" of the RSF.

Sudan's war began almost two years ago during a power struggle between the army and the RSF, a paramilitary force that was once its ally.

Khartoum has seen more than 3.5 million of its people flee since the war began, according to the United Nations. Millions more, unable or unwilling to leave, live among abandoned buildings, wrecked vehicles and what the army says are hidden mass graves.

The war has carved Sudan in two: the army holds sway in the east and north while the RSF controls most of Darfur in the west, and parts of the south.