Tahar Djaout (from the Kabyle ethnic group: Ṭaher Ǧaɛut), born on January 11, 1954, and died on June 2, 1993, was an Algerian journalist, poet, and fiction writer. He was killed by the Armed Islamic Group in 1993.

Early life

He was born in 1954 in Oulkhou, a village in the Kabylie area. After finishing university, he worked as a journalist for Algérie Actualité. By the late 1980s, he became one of Algeria's most respected literary talents.

Assassination

He was killed by the Armed Islamic Group because he supported secular ideas and opposed what he saw as extreme beliefs. The attack happened on May 26, 1993, as he was leaving his home in Algiers, Algeria. He died on June 2, after being in a coma for one week. One of his attackers said he was killed because he "used a powerful pen that could influence Islamic communities."

After his death, the BBC created a documentary about him called Shooting the Writer, hosted by Salman Rushdie.