In Algeria, the Garde Communale (Arabic: الحرس البلدي), was a paramilitary troop in charge of monitoring and protecting the municipalities during the Algerian Civil War.

[5] The military authorities, eager to relieve the army, which practically alone bore the weight of the anti-guerrilla warfare, decided, jointly with the Ministry of the Interior, to create a communal guard on 3 August 1996.

Young people from the former Islamic Salvation Front join the municipal guard, by political calculation or by necessity.

[7] The recruits were supervised by the Gendarmerie Nationale and received an accelerated training of two months, wore the uniform and were paid, the government was able to offer them advantages such as housing and cars, but remained suspicious and did not entrust them with more sophisticated weaponry.

[11] The Garde Communale was sometimes employed in search operations against armed Islamist groups in the mountains.