Officials with Algeria’s coast guard fatally shot two tourists holidaying in Morocco when the vacationers’ jet skis reportedly ventured into Algerian waters.
Four tourists, all French-Moroccan dual nationals, set off from the beach resort of Saidia in northeastern Morocco on jet skis Tuesday, only to find themselves lost and inadvertently crossing a maritime border, Barron’s reported Thursday.
“We got lost but we kept going until we found ourselves in Algeria. We knew we were in Algeria because a black Algerian dinghy came towards us and those on board fired at us,” Mohamed Kissi, one of the tourists, told the outlet.
Mourners attend the funeral of Bilal Kissi, shot dead by the Algerian coastguard when he and a fellow jet skier strayed across the maritime border between Algeria and Morocco, in the city of Saidia in northeastern Morocco on August 31, 2023. Kissi and Abdelali Merchouer, both French-Moroccan dual nationals, came under fire after taking a wrong turn off the beach resort of Saidia on Morocco’s northeast tip, the Le360 news website said, citing a witness. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
Kissi’s brother, Bilal, and his friend Abdelali Merchouer, were both reportedly killed in the incident, while Kissi and Smail Snabe survived, the outlet stated. Snabe was later arrested by officials with the Algerian coast guard and was brought before a prosecutor Wednesday, the outlet stated.
Morocco and Algeria have a “long history of tension” relating to a dispute over the Western Sahara, BBC News reported. The long-lasting disagreement between the two countries led to a border closure between the two nations in 1994 and ultimately the severing of ties by Algeria in 2021. (RELATED: Algerian Man Pleads Guilty To Working With Pennsylvania Woman And Other Conspirators To Help Terrorists)
Kissi claimed that his brother had attempted to speak with the Algerian coast guard officials before he was shot five times, BBC News reported. Since the jet skis they were on were out of fuel, Kissi said that he attempted to swim back to Saidia before being picked up by the Moroccan navy, the outlet stated.
Moroccan government spokesman Mustapha Baitas declined to comment on the incident, saying only that it was “a matter for the judiciary,” BBC News reported.