ALGIERS: Tensions flared on Sunday between Algeria and Morocco after Rabat accused an Algerian soldier of firing on Moroccan civilians across their shared border and seriously wounding one of them.

Algeria charged on Sunday that Rabat was twisting the facts and summoned its envoy to express its “exasperation” a day after Morocco had summoned the Algerian ambassador to “vigorously protest” against the shooting.

The border between the two North African neighbours has been closed since 1994, and relations have been tense mainly because of a dispute over Western Sahara.

The Moroccan government said in a statement that an Algerian soldier on Saturday opened fire on a dozen civilians along the border near the northeastern city of Oujda.

One of them, a 28-year-old, was hit in the face by three bullets and “seriously wounded”, said the statement.

It described the shooting as “a grave incident” and “an irresponsible act that comes on top of other provocative acts... along the border”. The foreign ministry summoned the Algerian ambassador to demand explanations while Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad said the soldier should be “brought to justice”, said Morocco’s MAP news agency.

But on Sunday the Algerian foreign ministry hit back, saying Rabat’s allegations were “false”.

A statement acknowledged that Algerian border guards had fired “two warning shots in the air” after coming under attack from “Moroccan smugglers who pelted them with stones”.

“The border guards... reacted professionally by firing two warning shots in the air which can in no way cause anyone to be injured,” the ministry said.

The “facts have been manipulated and the declarations of Moroccan officials... reflect an irresponsible attitude which does not fit with the values of fraternity and good neighbourly relations,” it said.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2014