French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said the March 1962 shooting of dozens of European supporters of French Algeria on the rue d'Isly in the heart of Algiers was "unforgivable for the Republic". In a first, the French president admitted that the shooting of unarmed civilians by French soldiers was a "massacre".
At a gathering in the Elysée presidential palace attended by people of French origin who were repatriated after Algeria gained independence, Macron addressed the brutal events of March 26, 1962.