RABAT: Two holidaymakers jet skiing in Morocco were shot dead by the Algerian coast guard when they strayed across the maritime border between two Mediterranean countries, Moroccan media reported on Thursday.
Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Merchouer, both French-Moroccan dual nationals, came under fire after taking a wrong turn off the beach resort of Saidia on Morocco’s northeast tip, the Le360 news website said, citing a witness.
A third man, Smail Snabe, also French-Moroccan, was arrested by the Algerian coast guard and appeared before a prosecutor on Wednesday, Le360 reported.
There were four men in the group on Tuesday, all riding jet skis.
“We got lost but we kept going until we found ourselves in Algeria,” Mohamed Kissi, the brother of the young man who died, was quoted as saying by the Moroccan website Al Omk.
“We knew we were in Algeria because a black Algerian dinghy came toward 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.
The incident comes against a backdrop of increased tensions between Algeria and Morocco exacerbated by their antagonism over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
The border between the North African nations has been closed since 1994, and Algiers severed ties with Rabat in 2021 after accusing its neighbor of “hostile acts,” an accusation Morocco called “completely unjustified.”
When asked about the reported shooting of the jet skiers on Thursday, Moroccan government spokesman Mustapha Baitas declined to comment, saying only that it was “a matter for the judiciary.”
There was no immediate comment from the Algerian side.
Jet skiers killed by Algeria coast guard after losing way: reports
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Jet skiers killed by Algeria coast guard after losing way: reports
- Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Merchouer, both French-Moroccan dual nationals, came under fire after taking a wrong turn off the beach resort of Saidia on Morocco’s northeast tip
- A third man, Smail Snabe, also French-Moroccan, was arrested by the Algerian coast guard
Pope Francis set to visit Turkiye for Council of Nicaea anniversary in 2025
- The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him
The early centuries of Christianity were marked by debate about how Jesus could be both God and man, and the Church decided on the issue at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.
“During the Holy Year, we will also have the opportunity to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the first great Ecumenical Council, that of Nicaea. I plan to go there,” the pontiff was quoted as saying at a theological committee event.
The city, now known as Iznik, is in western Anatolia, some 150km southeast of Istanbul.
The pope had already expressed in June the desire to go on the trip and the spiritual head of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, had said the two men would celebrate the important recurrence together but no official confirmation had been made yet.
Despite international travel becoming increasingly difficult for him because of health issues, Francis, who will turn 88 on Dec. 17, completed in September a 12-day tour across Asia, the longest of his 11-year papacy.
Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue investments after US bribery allegations
- Adani Group holds a 70 percent stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country
- US last week accused Adani Group of being part of scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure contracts, misleading US investors
HYDERABAD, India: Israel wants India’s Adani Group to continue to invest in the country, Israel’s envoy to India said on Thursday, affirming the nation’s support for the ports-to-media conglomerate whose billionaire founder is facing bribery allegations in the United States.
“We wish Adani and all Indian companies continue to invest in Israel,” Ambassador Reuven Azar said in an interview with Reuters, adding that allegations by US authorities were “not something that’s problematic” from Israel’s point of view.
The Adani Group holds a 70% stake in Haifa port in northern Israel and is involved in multiple other projects with firms in the country, including to produce military drones and plans for the manufacture of commercial semiconductors.
US authorities last week accused Gautam Adani, his nephew, and Adani Green’s managing director of being part of a scheme to pay bribes of $265 million to secure Indian power supply contracts and misleading US investors during fund raising efforts there.
Adani Group has denied all the accusations, calling them “baseless.”
Still, shares and bonds of Adani companies were hammered last week and some partners began to review joint projects.
“I am sure Adani Group will resolve its problems,” Azar said on the sidelines of an event in the southern city of Hyderabad.
Lebanon to hold parliament session on Jan. 9 to elect president
- State news agency: ‘Speaker Nabih Berri called a parliament session to elect a president of the republic on January 9’
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament will hold a session in January to elect a new president, official media reported on Thursday, a day after an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire began and following more than two years of presidential vacuum.
“Speaker Nabih Berri called a parliament session to elect a president of the republic on January 9,” the official National News Agency reported.
Israel says ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon violated
- Lebanese security sources and state media report tank fire struck Markaba, Wazzani and Kfarchouba
- Lebanon’s military deployed troops and tanks across the country’s south on Thursday
BEIRUT: Israel’s military announced on Thursday that it had detected the presence of suspects in several areas of southern Lebanon, calling it a violation of the ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Earlier on Thursday Israeli tank fire targeted three towns along Lebanon’s southeastern border with Israel, according to Lebanese security sources and state media. The strikes came a day after the ceasefire, which prohibits “offensive military operations,” had officially taken effect.
The tank fire hit Markaba, Wazzani, and Kfarchouba, all located within two kilometers of the Blue Line that marks the border between Lebanon and Israel. One security source reported that two people were wounded in Markaba.
A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday under a deal brokered by the US and France, intended to allow people in both countries to start returning to homes in border areas shattered by 14 months of fighting.
But managing the returns have been complicated. Israeli troops remain stationed within Lebanese territory in towns along the border, and on Thursday morning the Israeli military urged residents of towns along the border strip not to return yet for their own safety.
The three towns hit on Thursday morning lie within that strip.
There was no immediate comment on the tank rounds from Hezbollah or Israel, who had been fighting for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war.
Lebanon’s military deployed troops and tanks across the country’s south on Thursday as a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war largely held for a second day.
A Lebanese army source said its forces were “conducting patrols and setting up checkpoints” south of the Litani River without advancing into areas where Israeli forces were still present.
In the border village of Qlaaya, residents threw rice and flowers to celebrate the arrival of Lebanese soldiers.
“We only want the Lebanese army,” chanted the residents of the Christian-majority village, as they clapped and cheered for the troops and waved the Lebanese red, white and green flag.
Since the ceasefire took effect on Wednesday, tens of thousands of Lebanese who fled their homes have headed back to their towns and villages, only to find scenes of devastation.
“Despite all the destruction and the sorrow, we are happy to be back,” said Umm Mohammed Bzeih, a widow who fled with her four children from the southern village of Zibqin two months ago.
“I feel as if our souls have returned,” she said, visibly exhausted as she swept up the shattered glass and pieces of stones that carpeted the floor.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said his group was cooperating on the army’s deployment in the south.
There is “full cooperation” with the Lebanese state in strengthening the army’s deployment, he said, adding the group had “no visible weapons or bases” but “nobody can make residents leave their villages.”
The agreement, a rare diplomatic feat in a region racked by conflict, ended the deadliest confrontation between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group in years. But Israel is still fighting its other arch foe, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip.
Under the ceasefire terms, Israeli forces can take up to 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the military not to allow residents back to villages near the border.
Lebanon’s speaker of parliament Nabih Berri, the top interlocutor for Lebanon in negotiating the deal, had said on Wednesday that residents could return home.
Syria war monitor says more than 130 dead in army-militant clashes in north
- Clashes followed “an operation launched by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said
- The air forces of both Syria and its ally Russia struck the attacking militants
BEIRUT: A monitor of Syria’s war said on Thursday that more than 130 combatants had been killed in clashes between the army and militant groups in the country’s north, as the government also reported fierce fighting.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the toll in the clashes which began a day earlier after the militants launched an attack “has risen to 132, including 65 fighters” from Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, 18 from allied factions “and 49 members of the regime forces.”
