French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday asked for "forgiveness" on behalf of his country for abandoning Algerians who fought alongside France in their country's war of independence.

Tens of thousands of Algerians fought with the French army in the war that pitted Algerian independence fighters against their French colonial masters from 1954 to 1962.

At the end of the war, the loyalist fighters known as "harkis" were left to fend for themselves, despite earlier promises that France would look after them.