One day after the UK Foreign Office issued a travel warning cautioning UK travelers to be aware of the closed border – land and sea – between Morocco and Algeria, the Government of Canada also issued a travel warning on Tuesday for Canadian tourists planning to vacation in Morocco, advising them to avoid crossing the maritime border into Algeria.
The warning follows the shooting of two French-Moroccan tourists by the Algerian Coast Guard after they unintentionally strayed into Algerian waters on jet skis on August 29th.
In a statement, a copy of which was published on its account on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter), the Canadian government, addressed its citizens coming to the Kingdom of Morocco by saying, “Morocco’s border with Algeria is closed. Don’t attempt to cross into Algeria by land or water, avoid boating close to the maritime border in order not to cross it.”
The incident involving the unfortunate deaths of the two tourists, Bilal Kissi and Abdelali Mechouar, who died immediately at the scene, while the third victim was seriously injured and is now being held in Algeria, gained widespread attention on social media and garnered significant coverage in both local and international news outlets.
The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated a separate investigation alongside the ongoing Moroccan inquiry of the Oujda Prosecutor, to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident.