A01387 - Abderrahmane Taleb, The Maker of Bombs for the Algerian National Liberation Front

Abderrahmane Taleb (b. March 5, 1930, Casbah of Algiers, Algiers - d. April 24, 1958, Barberousse Prison [now Serkadji Prison], Algiers) also known by his wartime pseudonym Mohand Akli, was the artificer (a service member skilled in working on artillery devices in the field) of the Autonomous Zone of Algiers during the Battle of Algiers.  He was guillotined on April 24, 1958, at the Barberousse Prison (now Serkadji Prison) in Algiers. 

Born in Sidi Ramdane in the Casbah of Algiers of a family originating from Azeffoun in Kabylie, Taleb attended the Fateh school, then the Sarrouy school in Soustara where he had Mohand Lechani as a teacher, among others, before joining the Guillemin college, currently the Okba high school, in Bab El Oued, where the prevailing racial discrimination forced him to leave the school and continue his studies in private institutions.

Taleb applied as a free candidate to the University of Algiers. He was accepted and enrolled in the Faculty of Sciences in order to pursue studies in chemistry.

At the call of the FLN (National Liberation Front (Arabic: Jabhatu l-Taḥrīri l-Waṭanī; French: Front de libération nationale, FLN), Taleb left the faculty benches to devote himself to the national cause and joined the maquis in 1956, in the wilaya III. 

Following the attack of August 10, 1956, in the street of Thèbes in the Casbah of Algiers perpetrated by ultras of the French Algeria against the Algerian civil populations, the chemistry student was assigned to the Autonomous zone of Algiers to manufacture explosives in makeshift laboratories.

In the company of Taleb's friend, Rachid Kaouche, Taleb set up a clandestine workshop at the impasse de la grenade in the Casbah, then another at the Villa des Roses in El Biar. However, on October 11, 1956, a spark caused an explosion that killed his friend and drew the attention of the French military to their activities.

Taleb found refuge with his combat brothers in the mountains of Chrea. 

Actively sought, Taleb was apprehended in June 1957 south of Blida by the 3rd Regiment of Marine Infantry Parachutists.  Considered as the artificer of the Bombing network of Yacef Saadi during the Battle of Algiers, he was sentenced to death by the Permanent Court of the Armed Forces of Algiers on December 7, 1957, at the same time as Djamila Bouhired, Djamila Bouazza and Abdelghani Marsali.

Taleb was executed on April 24, 1958, at dawn. On the day of his execution, he told the imam appointed by the colonial administration to read the Fatiha: "Take a weapon and join the maquis!"