Rif war

That photoshot is taken at Monte Arruit, when Spanish tropos recovered the position.
If you Google "Monte Arruit" you will get more pictures of Spanish forces retrieving the corpses and the horrors the men who perished there had to endure before death. Colonial wars were brutal, but after the discoveries made there by Spanish forces, not many POWs were taken for the rest of the war, no quarter was asked or given.

I found images of atrocities by both sides - like men holding severed heads. As you say, colonial wars were often brutal affairs.

NebrHogger said:

I found images of atrocities by both sides - like men holding severed heads. As you say, colonial wars were often brutal affairs.

Click to expand...

x2
After the Disaster of Annual and the siege of Melilla. Waves of reinforcements from Spanish mainland arrived to turn the tide, lots of people volunteered to join the army in order to "show them!!". ((this was a promise of future brutallity as always happens with motivated volunteers moved by hate/revenge))

It became a custom for some units to cut the heads of the the Berbers and make piles of them after the battles and firefights.
Spanish Legionaires used to cut open the bellies of dead Berbers and to tie the intestines to the necks of the corpses.
Same applied to the opposite side, and any Spanish soldier captured could expect to be tortured, same as the whole garrison of Monte Arruit after they surrendered and the terms of their surrender were not respected.

Despite the pass of time, mankind hasnt changed that much. Everytime I remember this war, echoes of Chechenya/Afghanistan/Syria/WW2 come back to my mind.
Terror has been a weapon for thousands of years.
Will we ever learn better... Im not holding any high hopes on that.