Algeria Accuses Morocco Of 'Fabricating' Border Shooting

The Algerian Foreign Ministry has accused Morocco of "fabricating" a shooting incident on the border between the two nations, which Rabat said left a civilian badly injured.



"A group of Moroccan nationals hurled stones at Algerian border guards who responded by firing into the air and there were no casualties," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdel-Aziz Ben Ali Sharif was "ed by local media as saying.



"Such incidents happen frequently, and the accusations were fabricated from Morocco," he added.



Earlier in the day, Moroccan Foreign Ministry summoned the Algerian ambassador to protest a "shooting" by an Algerian soldier on Moroccan civilians at the border, which Rabat said had left one civilian badly injured.



According to an earlier statement by the Moroccan government, an Algerian army soldier fired three times at ten Moroccan civilians at the border near the northeastern city of Oujda, leaving one of the latter badly injured in the face.



"The Government of Morocco strongly protests  this direct and unacceptable attack on the lives of Moroccan civilians by the Algerian army," the statement said.



Relations between the two neighbors turned tense in recent months on the back of an attack on the Algerian embassy in the Moroccan city of Casablanca last year.



Tension surfaced between the two countries yet again earlier this year when Morocco accused Algeria of deporting Syrian refugees to their joint borders – allegations denied by Algeria.



The two North African neighbors have tense relations for decades due to differences over Western Sahara region, which Morocco considers an inseparable part of its territory.



Morocco accuses Algeria of backing Western Sahara's Polisario Front, which continues to battle the Moroccan government for the region.



By Abderrazek Ben Abdullah



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Alger