RABAT, Morocco – A clash between Moroccan border guards and armed men coming from Algeria left one soldier dead on Friday, a security source told AFP.
"The incident happened around 1100 (GMT) at the border with Algeria during fighting with Moroccan border guards. One of the guards died," said the security source who was at the site.
The armed men appeared to be Islamists, and after the fight, they retreated toward the mountains on the Algeria-Morocco border, the source added.
An official at the Moroccan interior ministry also said that "the individuals presented themselves as Algerian mujahideen at a home near the city of Jrada," in eastern Morocco.
"They probably went to the house to get themselves food supplies," he added.
The border region between the two countries was closed in 1994 following an Islamist militant attack in Marrakesh that Morocco blamed on the Algerian secret services.
