Jet-skiing Moroccans arrested for entering Algerian waters

The Algerian coastguard has arrested three Moroccan nationals who crossed its western maritime border on a jet ski, Algeria’s defence ministry said Wednesday.

The ministry said in a statement that the individuals were arrested “after entering our territorial waters on a jet ski, approximately seven nautical miles off Marsa Ben M’hidi beach” on Monday.

The ministry said the area, which borders Morocco’s Saidia beach on the Mediterranean, was known for “intense activity by drug smuggling gangs, organised crime, and illegal immigration.”

It is the same area where two vacationers on jet skis were shot and killed by Algerian coastguards in August.

Bilal Kissi, a French-Moroccan 29-year-old, and his cousin Abdelali Mechouar, a 40-year-old Moroccan resident of France, were killed after straying into Algerian waters, according to the brother of one of the victims who was with them that day.

Algeria said its security forces only fired after issuing “an audible warning and ordering them to stop several times.”

There are long-standing tensions between the two countries, and Algiers cut off diplomatic relations with Rabat in August 2021 amid fresh disagreements over the disputed Western Sahara territory and Morocco’s decision to normalise ties with Israel.