I just ran into a guy who claimed to be a paratrooper (or commando) from Belgium who fought, and was captured, in Algeria at the end of hostilities during the Algerian war of Independence. I'd never heard of Belgian involvement in this conflict and was wondering if anyone had any more information.
The nation of Belgium and its armed forces was not involved in the Algerian War. There are no existing records or sources that reference any involvement of the Belgium armed forces for the French cause. Are you certain that this fellow you ran into said that he fought under the Belgian flag? There is of course the possibility that he was a Belgian man in the French paratroopers or perhaps more realistically, a Belgian French Foreign Legionnaire.
I also find it very hard to believe that someone belonging to the paratroopers would find themselves being captured in 1962 when the FLN (and other insurgent groups) were essentially limited to their bases and areas and were actively being fought into tighter and tighter spaces as a result of the Challe offensive.
He was either in the French foreign legion or he's lying. I know of no sources that could indicate Belgian militaristic involvement in the Algerian War of Independence.
He may have been part of the French Foreign Legion, which was based in Algeria and operated there during the Algerian war of independence.