Bigeard managed to redeploy and surround the FLN force; it withdrew successfully albeit with heavy casualties.

[3] Lieutenant Colonel Marcel Bigeard and his 3rd Colonial Parachute Regiment (3e RPC) - recently returned from successful operations in Algiers - were tasked with hunting down the unit and stopping it.

[3] French intelligence suggested that the unit would move west, tasked with escorting commanders of Wilya 4 to a rendezvous with other FLN forces near Médéa.

The Headquarters and mortars were on Hill 1298; the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Companies and the Reconnaissance Squadron on foot were spread over 10 km on four crests overlooking the enemy’s probable route.

In a series of running battles over an area of some 30 square kilometres that lasted 48 hours, Commando 41 and at least two other katibas made several vigorous counterattacks which came to hand-to-hand fighting.

Despite support from tactical aircraft, the paratroopers were too thinly stretched to maintain a tight cordon; around 200 FLN fighters managed to slip away through the cracks.

[3] Other observers draw more pessimistic conclusions for the French, because if an elite unit like the 3rd Colonial Parachute Regiment with a great commander like Marcel Bigeard failed to score a total victory on their own terms, was there much hope of winning at all?