According to Salan’s aide, Captain Ferrandi, the shooting of Feraoun was a mistake; the main target was the missing man, “a certain Petitbon, a senior official of the national education services”, who had decided not to attend the meeting at the last moment — so the O.A.S. squad just killed whoever was there. In view of the singling out of “the best Muslim elements in the liberal professions” in Salan’s Instruction No. 29, the excuse — such as it is — hardly convinces.

XREF: Connects to broader knowledge about colonial counter-insurgency tactics that deliberately eliminate educated indigenous elites.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1624