Defending the line was a force some 80,000 strong, the most powerful concentration of French combat troops in Algeria. There were mechanised and armoured units, four para regiments—including the crack 1st R.E.P. of Colonel Jeanpierre who had been wounded during the capture of Yacef—and plentiful helicopters to spot any crossing-points and track the crossers.

XREF: Relates to the broader Algerian War counterinsurgency literature, and connects to the concept of border sealing operations in COIN doctrine.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 814