OAS (Organisation armée secrète)

The OAS (Organisation armée secrète, “Secret Armed Organization”) was a clandestine far-right French paramilitary organization active during the Algerian War of Independence (1961-1962). It opposed Algerian independence and French withdrawal, carrying out bombings, assassinations, and other acts of violence against French authorities and Algerian nationalists, including an attempted coup and attacks that escalated into virtual civil war.

Claims that use this term

• The OAS executed six educators including writer Mouloud Feraoun
• The OAS escalated to total war against French authority to force general paralysis
• The OAS death toll in one month reached 553 through forced civilian mobilization
• The OAS staged the largest bank heist in history to that date in Oran.