A picture taken from the Moroccan region of Oujda shows Algerian border guards patrolling along the border with Morocco on 4 November 2021.
- One French citizen has been confirmed killed in Algeria, and
another has been jailed in an incident involving several French-Moroccans. - The incident reportedly involved two French-Moroccans on jet
skis straying into Algerian waters. - Tensions between Algeria and Morocco have been escalating
due to a long-standing dispute over the Western Sahara territory.
France
on Friday confirmed one of its citizens had been killed in Algeria, a day after
media reports said two tourists were shot dead by coastguards when they strayed
across the maritime border with Morocco.
Moroccan
media reported Thursday that two French-Moroccans had been killed after
straying across the border into Algerian waters on jet skis, near the popular
Moroccan beach resort of Saida.
The
foreign ministry in Paris reported only one death without providing the
circumstances, saying another of its citizens was jailed in “an incident
involving several of our nationals”.
READ | Jet-skiing holidaymakers killed by Algeria coastguard after taking a wrong turn in Morocco
Paris
did not release the identity of the person it said had been killed.
The
reported incident came as tensions are high between Rabat and Algiers, stoked
by a long-running dispute over the Western Sahara territory.
The
border between the two countries has been closed since 1994, and Algeria broke
off diplomatic ties in August 2021, accusing Morocco of “hostile
acts” – a decision Rabat called “completely unjustified”.
The
French foreign ministry said its “crisis support centre and our embassies in
Morocco and Algeria are in close contact with our fellow citizens’ families, to
whom we are offering every support,” the ministry added.
News
site Le360 named the pair as Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Mechouer.
Le360
reported that a third man also believed to be French-Moroccan, Smail Snabe, was
arrested by the Algerian coast guard and brought before prosecutors.
Eyewitness
Mohamed Kissi, the brother of Bilal, told Moroccan website Al Omk that the jet
ski-riding group of three French-Moroccans and one Moroccan “got lost but
kept going until we found ourselves in Algeria”.
He
said a black Algerian inflatable boat had driven towards them and shot at them.
Mohamed
Kissi said that he had been recovered by the Moroccan navy and brought back to
Saida.
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