Algerians shocked by deadly ambush of teachers in Boumerdes

2009-06-05

The attack on a convoy accompanying two teachers on a mission to oversee middle school certificate exams has stunned Algerian teachers and students alike.

By Said Jameh for Magharebia in Algiers – 05/06/09

[Getty Images] Algerian security officers died alongside schoolteachers they were escorting, when terrorists attacked their convoy on June 2nd.

Algeria was greatly shocked by the killing of two high schools teachers in a terrorist attack on a police patrol transporting middle school certificate examination papers (BEM) this week in Bourmedes.

The news about the murder of eight policemen and the two teachers on Tuesday (June 2nd) stunned those employed in the educational sector, citizens in general, and beyond. On Wednesday, the EU Presidency strongly condemned the attack.

The police officers and teachers were killed in a terrorist attack on a convoy in Timezrit, not far from the Sidi Li Bounab forest, the stronghold of al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb.

The patrol was first attacked by the detonation of a traditional bomb planted on the roadside, before the terrorists, whose number is not yet known, opened fire on everyone inside the cars. Had it not been for the intervention of Army personnel patrolling not far from the scene, the death toll might have been greater.

The education family is horrified by the assassination of teachers Mohammed Baghdadi and Messaoud Khellas.

Baghdadi worked at Mouslim Mahiedine High School in the popular Hussein Dey neighbourhood of midtown Algiers, while Khellas worked at Mohamed Boudiaf High School in Dar Bidaa town in the capital. Both were on a mission to observe the process of the middle school certificate examinations that started that same day.

"I can't believe what happened," Baghdadi's wife told reporters at her home in Hussein Dey. "Mohammed didn't die… he was only ensuring that the examination papers reach the students. What danger does his work as a teacher constitute? We were waiting for his return home after he stayed for several days in the province of Boumerdes to follow up on the process of examinations."

Mohamed Baghdadi was 58 years old and had four children.

A colleague at Mouslim Mahiedine High School said Baghdadi had been tasked for many years with ensuring the processing of end-of-year examinations. "But this time was his last," he said.

Baghdadi was buried June 4th. Algerian journalists extended their condolences to his family. His brother works as a photographer for Al Watan.

Messaoud Khellas had travelled with Baghdadi for years to handle the year-end examinations.

A colleague at Mohamed Boudiaf High School, Assia told Liberté, "Regardless of his abilities and practical qualifications, and his success in his career, he was a cheerful person. I'll just remember his features and the joviality of his face as long as I live in this world."

Messaoud Khellas was also 58 years old. He was married with four children. He began teaching in the 1970s.

Minister of Education Aboubeker Benbouzid sent condolence messages to both families in which he condemned the operation and prayed for the souls of Mohamed Baghdadi and Messaoud Khellas.

"What happened is a sad and painful thing, not just to their immediate families, but to the entire education family," stated Benbouzid. He extended his sincere condolences and billed them as the martyrs of "national duty".

The end-of-year examinations started May 27th with the primary education certificate examinations, followed by the middle school certificate examinations. The baccalaureate examinations are due to start June 7th.

The attack on the teachers' convoy has infuriated the citizens, especially students who are about to sit for exams.

"What those terrorists have done is a cowardly act … whoever stands behind that has no link to this nation," said Omar, a high school student who participated in the burial service for Mohamed Baghdadi.