French double-agent infiltration starved the A.L.N. by making villagers withhold supplies.

Evidence

In the maquis were also operating, with extraordinary fearlessness, Captain Léger and a section of his bleus; their double-agent activities, as usual, were so successful that villagers refused any longer to give food supplies to the A.L.N., not knowing whether they were true moudjahiddine or Léger’s turncoats. Conditions in the field became terrible, with men dying as often from hunger as from enemy bullets. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1014

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the earlier description of Léger’s bleus double-agent tactics; shows the counter-morale dimension of the pacification. — connects to: The A.L.N. reached peak military strength in 1958 despite heavy losses; Counterinsurgent double agents severed villagers’ food support from the A.L.N.; French military pressure by 1958 drove A.L.N. morale collapse and mass defection (+2 more)

Related

• Counterinsurgent double agents severed villagers’ food support from the A.L.N. (similarity 0.94)
• The A.L.N. reached peak military strength in 1958 despite heavy losses (similarity 0.83)
• French military pressure by 1958 drove A.L.N. morale collapse and mass defection (similarity 0.82)
• Challe’s net starved the A.L.N. into losing the operational initiative (similarity 0.81)
• The French army’s heavy-handed countermeasures alienated even sympathetic observers (similarity 0.80)
• By 1960 French operations had destroyed most regular A.L.N. katibas inside Algeria (similarity 0.80)
• French failed counterinsurgency reprisals drove the uncommitted into the F.L.N. (similarity 0.79)
• The army’s ambiguous pacification strategy left it unsuited to counterinsurgency (similarity 0.79)
• Heavy-handed military reprisals in Algeria drove more Algerians to join the rebels. (similarity 0.79)
• Regroupement bred resistance even as it hampered the A.L.N. militarily. (similarity 0.78)
• French regroupment policy severed the FLN from village support (similarity 0.78)
• French countermeasures such as ratissages and prison drove Algerians into the F.L.N. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The A.L.N. appeared statistically defeated by early 1960 #corroborates (0.50) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1019
• French operations had reduced the interior A.L.N. to 8,000 scattered men #corroborates (0.35) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 1160