Algeria coast guards fire on stray jet skiers

A wrong turn by four holidaying jet skiers proved fatal after they strayed into foreign waters and were fired upon by Algerian coast guards.

Two of the French-Moroccan skiers, Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Merchouer, were killed on the spot while a third man, Smail Snabe, was arrested Tuesday, their companion, Mohamed Kissi, who survived the attack, told Moroccan authorities after his rescue and return to the beach resort of Saidia.

"We got lost but we kept going until we found ourselves in Algeria," Kissi, the brother of the slain victim, was quoted as saying by the Moroccan website Al Omk.

"We knew we were in Algeria because a black Algerian dinghy came towards us" and those on board "fired at us," he said.

"Thank God I wasn't hit, but they killed my brother and my friend. They arrested my other friend," he added.

"Five bullets hit my brother and my friend. My other friend was hit by a bullet," Kissi was quoted as saying.

"We got lost and we were out of fuel," he said, adding that he was picked up by the Moroccan navy who took him back to the Saidia marina.

When asked about the reported shooting of the jet skiers on Thursday, Moroccan government spokesperson Mustapha Baitas declined to comment, saying only that it was "a matter for the judiciary."

The shooting comes against a backdrop of increased tensions between Algeria and Morocco exacerbated by their antagonism over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

with AFP