<\/p>\n

Algeria said Sunday its security forces had opened fire this week after a group of jet skiers from Morocco ignored warning shots and refused to comply with orders to stop.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lawyers for two men shot dead in the incident plan to file a complaint in France. One was French-Moroccan and the other held a residence permit in France.<\/p>\n

“During a security patrol inside our territorial waters, a coastguard unit intercepted on Tuesday at 7:47 pm (18:47 GMT), three jet skis that clandestinely entered our territorial waters,” a defence ministry press release said.<\/p>\n

“After issuing an audible warning and ordering them to stop several times, the suspects refused to comply and fled,” it added of Tuesday’s incident in which two tourists were killed.<\/p>\n

The defence ministry said that after several warning rounds, “shots were fired, forcing one of the jet skis to stop, and the other two fled”.<\/p>\n

The ministry said the shootings happened “because of increased activity by drugs-trafficking gangs and organised crime” in the border zone, and because of “the obstinacy of those on the jet skis”.<\/p>\n

The statement said one body was recovered on Wednesday, “of an unidentified man with a gunshot wound”.<\/p>\n

His body was taken to Tlemcen for an autopsy, it added.<\/p>\n

The defence ministry statement said people should “not pay attention to false information that aims to sully the honourable image of the Algerian forces”.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– Legal action –<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reports from Morocco said French-Moroccan tourist Bilal Kissi, 29, and his Moroccan cousin Abdelali Mechouar, 40, were killed.<\/p>\n

A third man, Smail Snabe, was wounded and detained in Algeria, according to media reports in Morocco on Friday.<\/p>\n

Kissi’s brother Mohamed, who had also been in the group, said they got lost and ran out of fuel after leaving the Moroccan resort of Saidia, near the border with Algeria.<\/p>\n

He said he managed to leave the area after the incident and was picked up by the Moroccan navy.<\/p>\n

Bilal Kissi’s body was recovered on Saidia beach on the Moroccan side of the border.<\/p>\n

Saidia is a popular Moroccan summer resort known for its long beach and water sports.<\/p>\n

Kissi was buried on Thursday in Bni Drar village near Oujda, in the presence of dozens of relatives.<\/p>\n

Sunday’s statement from the defence ministry was the first official reaction from Algeria to Tuesday’s incident.<\/p>\n

In Morocco, the prosecutor’s office in the city of Oujda has opened an investigation, a judicial source told the official Moroccan news agency MAP on Friday.<\/p>\n

The family of the two tourists killed are to launch a legal action in France, their lawyers announced on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Hakim Chergui, who is acting for the families of the victims, said the legal action would be submitted on Monday or Tuesday.<\/p>\n

They are accusing the Algerian authorities of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, the hijacking of a vessel and failure to assist a person in danger.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– Increased tensions –<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The break in diplomatic relations between Morocco and Algeria “does not justify the committing of the least crime and even less so the impunity of those responsible”, said a statement from the lawyers.<\/p>\n

It was issued shortly before the Algerian defence ministry statement was released.<\/p>\n

It comes at a time of increased tensions between Algeria and Morocco, exacerbated by antagonism over the disputed Western Sahara territory.<\/p>\n

The border between the two North African countries has been closed since 1994, and Algiers severed diplomatic ties in August 2021, accusing Morocco of “hostile acts” — a decision Rabat called “completely unjustified”.<\/p>\n

There has been no official statement yet from Rabat about the incident.<\/p>\n

However, Morocco’s state-run National Human Rights Council (CNDH) condemned the use of live fire by the Algerian coastguard against “defenceless citizens, instead of helping people lost at sea”.<\/p>\n

It said this was “a grave violation of international norms”.<\/p>\n

The CNDH also said that a third person was still in intensive care in Oujda, without naming him.<\/p>\n

It said Snabe had been “sentenced to 18 months” in prison in Algeria.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Algeria said Sunday its security forces had opened fire this week after a group of jet skiers from Morocco ignored warning shots and refused to comply with orders to stop.   Lawyers for two men shot dead in the incident plan to file a complaint in France. One was French-Moroccan and the other held a residence permit in France. “During a security patrol inside our territorial waters, a coastguard unit intercepted on Tuesday at 7:47 pm (18:47 GMT), three jet skis that clandestinely entered our territorial waters,” a defence ministry press release said. “After issuing an audible warning and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[580,562],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-yeswecantv-news"],"yoast_head":"\n