When two visitors jet skiing in Morocco went into the maritime border between two Mediterranean countries, the Algerian coastguard shot them dead.
According to a witness, Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Merchouer, both French-Moroccan dual nationals, came under fire after taking a wrong turn off the seaside town of Saidia on Morocco’s northeast tip.
Smail Snabe, a third French-Moroccan male, was apprehended by the Algerian coastguard and hauled before a prosecutor on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, there were four men in the group, all of whom were riding jet skis.
“We got lost, but we kept going until we found ourselves in Algeria”, said Mohamed Kissi.
“We knew we were in Algeria because a black Algerian dinghy came towards us and the people on board fired at us”, he explained.
“I’m glad I wasn’t hit, but they killed my brother and a friend. They also detained my other friend”, he continued.
“Five bullets hit my brother and my friend. My other friend was hit by a bullet”, Kissi added.
“We got lost and ran out of fuel”, he explained, adding that he was picked up by the Moroccan navy and returned to the Saidia.
The incident occurred against the backdrop of rising tensions between Algeria and Morocco, which are worsened by their rivalry for the disputed area of Western Sahara.
The border between the two North African countries has been blocked since 1994, and Algiers cut ties with Rabat in 2021 after accusing Morocco of hostile acts, which Morocco dismissed as completely unjustified.
On Thursday, Moroccan government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas declined to comment on the reported shooting of the jet skiers, stating only that it was a matter for the judiciary.
Algeria made no immediate comment.
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