On the border between Algeria and Morocco, two people aboard jet skis were killed by fire from the Algerian coastguard. A third person was arrested by the authorities.
During a jet ski outing, four tourists found themselves confronted with fire from the coast guards after having entered an Algerian maritime zone. Two of them, Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Mechouer, Franco-Moroccan and Moroccan, did not survive. A third person, Smaïl Snabé, also Franco-Moroccan, was arrested by the authorities after being knocked down by an Algerian army canoe. According to the “concordant sources” of the media Le 360, he would have been presented before an Algerian prosecutor on Wednesday August 30.
This incident takes place between Morocco and Algeria, near the city of Saïdia, known to be a very busy seaside resort in the summer. Four vacationers left for a jet ski ride and got “lost”, according to the fourth person present at the time and who managed to get back on land. “We ran out of gas for the jet skis and we were drifting, he explains to the Moroccan media Le360. In the dark, we found ourselves in Algerian waters.” It was then that the four tourists found themselves under fire from the coast guards. This Friday, September 1, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the death of at least one Frenchman “in an incident involving several of our nationals”. Morocco and Algeria have not yet communicated on this event. An investigation was opened in Rabat this Friday, September 1.
Morocco and Algeria have had strained relations for several years. Their border has been closed since 1994 and Algeria has severed all diplomatic relations with Morocco since 2021. “Israel’s recognition in July 2023 of ‘Moroccan sovereignty’ over the disputed territory of Western Sahara has further heightened tensions”, explains West France. This choice made by Morocco had been “a point of no return”, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said in an interview with the “Al-Jazeera” channel on March 21, 2023.
