After nearly three decades of border disputes, it’s come with a deadly consequence for two tourists.
The maritime border between Algeria and Morocco has been closed off since 1994, as both parties continue to have diplomatic issues and struggles with their border relations.
This has led to two tourists being shot dead on Tuesday (29 August) after they accidentally strayed into Algeria while jet skiing, according to the local media.
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Both victims were French-Moroccan dual nationals and identified as Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Merchouer who were simply jet skiing whilst on holiday.
The pair were tragically shot dead by the Algerian coastguard after they allegedly took a wrong turn skiing at the beach resort of Saidia on Morocco’s northeastern tip.
Both tourists were originally in a group of four people, comprising of family and friends and all parties wandered into forbidden territory after getting lost.
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Two of the group thankfully made it out alive after they were shot at, with one person being arrested by the Algerian coastguard and taken to court on Wednesday 30 August, who has been identified as Smail Snabe.
The two north African countries have been going through an ongoing dispute over territory in the Western Sahara, which was annexed by Morocco in 1975.
Now, the Moroccan government have been questioned over the shooting, which led spokesperson Mustapha Baitas to explain it as a 'matter for the judiciary'.
As to how this could have happened, a Moroccan website Al Omk reported that Mohamed Kissi, the brother of the young man who died, shared that the four got lost but kept going until they found themselves in Algeria where they were accosted by the Algerian coastguard.
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It was only then they knew they had reached Algeria because a ‘black Algerian dinghy came towards us’ and they then ‘fired at us’, he explained.
“Thank God I wasn’t hit but they killed my brother and my friend. They arrested my other friend,” he told the news site.
The man said his brother and friend were hit by five bullets which led to their deaths and that his other friend was also hit.
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Kissi said he then tried to swim back to their resort in Saidia but was picked up by the Moroccan navy and taken back.
His cousin, Abdelkarim Kissi is an actor and has asked Moroccan authorities to bring the case to international courts for justice.
On social media, he wrote: “They killed Bilal Kissi, my little cousin, his only fault was to have crossed Algerian territorial waters, he was on vacation with his friends.
"He lived in France and like many young people from Morocco, he returned to his country. The Algerian police found nothing else than to rush on these young innocents and open fire without warning or moderation (we found at least five bullets in his body)."
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According to reports, Algeria has not immediately given an explanation to the reason for the shooting and it’s unclear whether the case will be taken outside of the Moroccan or Algerian territories for judicial proceedings.
Topics: News, Travel, World News
Britt Jones