14 July 1910. Béni Ounif, Bechar, Algeria. Parade of Senegalese Tirailleurs on the occasion of the Bastille Day celebrations there:
Réf. : D0388-121-003-0639 Jules Imbert/ECPAD/Défense
As detailed previously, Senegal– a traditional French ally who provided the Republic the use of the famed Tirailleurs Sénégalais for twin World Wars (where 200,000 served in the first and 140,000 in the second) as well as Algeria and Vietnam Indochina– produced some of the most reliable of French colonial troops for generations.
1940 uniform of Régiment de Tirailleurs Sénégalais du Tchad, via the Musee d’la Armee
These hardy Senegalese riflemen were stationed throughout France, Asia, and Africa, where their descendants often endure in their own unique enclaves.
Senegalese Tirailleurs from a March 1913, newspaper colour supplement
The first Senegalese Tirailleurs were recruited in 1857 while the last had their contracts expire in the French Army in 1965, six years after the independence of Senegal and the French Soudan. At their peak in 1917, they formed no less than 89 battalions.
As for Béni Ounif, today it is a desert border town on the Algeria–Morocco border and is probably best known for the brutal 1999 massacre by guerillas who stopped a bus at a fake roadblock, slashed 23 throats, then reportedly faded back into the Moroccan interior.
Odds are a company of Tirailleurs would have put a quick halt to that. Just saying.