from 1957 to 1960, the french tried to deal with the guerrillas by attacking villages and by bombing or burning them if suspected guerrillas were suspected to be present. over 800 villages, especially in the mountains, were completely destroyed. the inhabitants were moved from their villages and regrouped in camps on flat areas, where it was difficult to rebuild their previous economic and social systems. the "regroupement" program was a french strategy to fight against the guerrillas of the fln. it led to the displacement of more than 2,5 million algerians and to the weakening of peasant communities and populations already weakened in the colonial context.