Two French-Moroccan tourists killed by Algerian border guards when they accidentally found themselves jet-skiing in Algerian territorial watersnear its shores Moroccoseveral Moroccan media reported on Thursday (31/8), one of which cited an eyewitness to the tragedy.
According to the Le360 news website, Bilal Kishi and Abdelali Mesouer died on Tuesday when Algerians border guards shot them, inside Algerian territorial waters. The two men lost at sea while jet-skiing near the Moroccan town of Saidia. A third, also French-Moroccan, Smail Schnabe, was arrested by the Algerian authorities.
“We got lost, but we kept going until we were in Algeria. We realized we were in Algeria because a black, Algerian inflatable approached us” said Mohamed Kisi, the brother of one of the victims, who managed to escape and spoke to Morocco’s Al Omk website.
“The men (on the inflatable) shot at us. Fortunately, they didn’t get me, though my brother and my friend were killed. They arrested another friend of mine“, he added.
A cousin of one of the two victims, is the famous Moroccan actor Abdelkrim Kisi, known for playing with Jean Claude Van Damme in several action films. Shocked by the atrocity of his cousin’s death, Qissi posted a lengthy text on Facebook in which he protested against the Algerian regime, which he said was responsible for “several deaths” in the Qissi family.
“They killed Bilal Kishi my little cousin, his only mistake was that he 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 forces had no choice but to rush in on these young innocents and open fire without warning or measure (we found at least five bullets in his body)”, he writes and also reveals that “many members of my family were killed by the Algerian border police. My village is very close to the border unfortunately. My family has paid and is paying a heavy price because of hate.”
This tragedy occurs at a time of tension in Morocco’s relations with Algeria. The border has been closed since 1994 and Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Morocco in August 2021 accusing Rabat of “hostile actions”. Morocco describes this decision as “totally unjustified”.
The representative of the Moroccan government, Mustafa Baytas, when asked on Thursday (31/8) about the issue, did not make any comment, limiting himself to saying that the judicial authorities are responsible.
Source: News Beast
With 6 years of experience, I bring to the table captivating and informative writing in the world news category. My expertise covers a range of industries, including tourism, technology, forex and stocks. From brief social media posts to in-depth articles, I am dedicated to creating compelling content for various platforms.
