Killed jet skiers 'refused to stop' after Algerian warnings

It is the first official comment from Algeria on the killings

Relatives at the funeral of one of the jet skiers in Morocco. AFP

Algerian coastguard officers opened fire on a group of jet skiers only after they ignored warning shots and “refused to comply” with orders to stop, the country’s Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

The incident took place last Tuesday after the party strayed into Algerian waters on jet skis near the Moroccan coastal resort of Saidia, claimed Mohamed Kissi, who said he survived the shooting.

Lawyers for two men shot dead in the incident plan to file a complaint in France. One of the victims was French-Moroccan and the other held a residence permit in France.

Until Sunday, neither Algeria nor Morocco had formally commented on the killings.

“During a security patrol inside our territorial waters, a coastguard unit intercepted on Tuesday, at 7.47pm, three jet skis that clandestinely entered our territorial waters,” a Defence Ministry media release said.

“After issuing an audible warning and ordering them to stop several times, the suspects refused to comply and fled.”

The ministry said that after several warning rounds, “shots were fired, forcing one of the jet skis to stop, and the other two fled”.

The ministry said the shootings happened “because of increased activity by drug-trafficking gangs and organised crime” in the border zone, and because of “the obstinacy of those on the jet skis”.

The statement said one body was recovered on Wednesday, “of an unidentified man with a gunshot wound”. His body was taken to Tlemcen for a post mortem, it said.

Mr Kissi disputed the Algerian account.

“I did not hear any warning shots. I only heard gun shots directly that killed my brother Bilal,” he told Reuters on Sunday.

Moroccan authorities have said they could not comment on the case, calling it a judicial matter.

The family of the two tourists are to launch a legal action in France, their lawyers announced on Sunday.

Hakim Chergui, who is acting for the families of the victims, said the legal action would be submitted on Monday or Tuesday.

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.

The border between the two countries has been closed since 1994 and Algeria broke off diplomatic ties in August 2021.