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An elite French counterterrorism unit gained worldwide fame for a daring raid on a hijacked plane 28 years ago
An elite French counterterrorism unit gained worldwide fame for a daring raid on a hijacked plane 28 years ago GIGN operators breach Air France Flight 8969 in an attempt to liberate passengers and crew held captive onboard by Algerian terrorists, 1994 The more than 230 passengers and crew aboard Air France Flight 8969 on December 24, 1994, were looking forward to a quick and uneventful flight from Algiers to Paris. Before they took off, four men dressed as Algerian policemen boarded the plane for what appeared to be a routine check. Three days later, on the tarmac in Marseille, the passengers were freed by a daring raid that was broadcast on live TV, displaying to the world the unique skills of France's elite GIGN. In 1989, Algeria wasn't the safest place for foreigners, especially the French. France had colonized Algeria in the early 19th century and hundreds of thousands of French settled there over the following decades. In 1962, Algerians won independence from France after ...