These skulls belong to Algerians who had resisted to the French colonial forces in 1830. Historians say more of Algeria's past remains in French hands and needs to be recovered. Algeria on Friday received the skulls of 24 resistance fighters decapitated during France's colonial occupation of the North African country, and which had been stored for decades in a Paris museum. The Algerian freedom fighters’ skulls were received in an official ceremony. Algeria on Friday received the skulls of 24 resistance fighters decapitated during France's colonial occupation of the North African country, and which had been stored for decades in a Paris museum. To a 21-gun salute, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and a military guard of honour gave the war "heroes" an official welcome. France's 132 years of colonial rule, and the brutal eight-year war that ended it, have left a lasting legacy of often prickly relations between the two governments and peoples. The fighters’ skulls were taken to Paris as war trophies and held in a museum for decades until their repatriation to Algeria on Friday, amid a growing global reckoning with the legacy of colonialism. Algeria on Friday received the skulls of 24 resistance fighters decapitated during colonial France’s conquest of the North African country that had been lying in storage in a Paris museum. The fighters’ heads were decapitated during France’s conquest of the North African country, and were transported to the European country as war trophies. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said he’s hoping for an apology from France for colonial-era wrongs. Algeria has received the skulls of 24 resistance fighters decapitated during France’s colonial occupation of the North African country, and which had been stored for … Algeria on Friday received the skulls of 24 colonial resistance fighters which were lying in a French museum. But how did they land in Paris is a shocking story. France has returned the skulls of 24 Algerian freedom fighters to Algeria on Friday July 3 2020. Algeria on Friday received the skulls of 24 resistance fighters decapitated during France's colonial occupation of the North African country, and which had been stored for decades in a Paris museum. The skulls were flown into Algiers airport from France on a Hercules C-130 transport plane, escorted on arrival by Algerian fighter jets, an AFP correspondent said. Algeria will mark its 58th independence anniversary this week with the repatriation from France of the skulls of 24 Algerian resistance fighters. The skulls were flown into Algiers airport from France on a Hercules C-130 transport plane, escorted on arrival by Algerian fighter jets, an AFP correspondent said. Algeria yesterday received the skulls of the resistance fighters which had been stored for decades in a Paris museum.