Algeria’s coastguard apprehended three Moroccan nationals who crossed its western maritime border on a jet ski, according to the country’s defense ministry on Wednesday.
According to the ministry, the individuals were apprehended “after entering our territorial waters on a jet ski, approximately seven nautical miles off Marsa Ben M’hidi beach” on Monday.
The area, which borders Morocco’s Saidia beach on the Mediterranean, is known for “intense activity by drug smuggling gangs, organized crime, and illegal immigration,” according to the ministry.
In August, two vacationers on jet skis were shot and killed by Algerian coastguards in the same area.
According to reports, Bilal Kissi, a 29-year-old French-Moroccan, and his cousin Abdelali Mechouar, a 40-year-old Moroccan resident of France, were killed after straying into Algerian waters to the brother of one of the victims who was present that day.
Algeria claimed that its security forces fired only after issuing “an audible warning and ordering them to stop several times.”
There have long been tensions between the two countries, and Algiers cut diplomatic ties with Rabat in August 2021 due to new disagreements over the disputed territory of Western Sahara and Morocco’s decision to normalize relations with Israel.
