Deadly sectarian violence cripples Algerian desert city Daily life has ground to a halt in Ghardaia, a picturesque Algerian city on the edge of the Sahara turned "ghost town" after the latest wave of sectarian violence left three people dead. The oasis settlement, with its 90,000 inhabitants, was a scene of desolation on Monday morning with the normally bustling market square empty and charred shopfronts bearing witness to the unrest that engulfed Ghardaia last week. Images and soundbites