Algerian police confirmed on Tuesday the death of a minor from a gunshot wound during a police operation as part of the fight against drugs.
The police said in a statement that its officers were searching a house in the Baraki neighborhood of the capital, when they were “surprised” by young men trying to “obstruct a search operation.”
And she confirmed that “an element fired a warning shot, hitting a minor,” adding that the boy was taken to hospital, but died at a later time. He was 16 years old, according to the autopsy report.
A policeman was arrested and an investigation was opened into the incident, with “the firearm being subjected to ballistic expertise,” according to the police statement.
Police arrested two people and seized about 1,000 “hallucinogenic pills” amid what officials describe as an increase in drug use in the North African country.
The head of the Drug Enforcement Agency, Ghania Miqdash, said recently that cocaine use increased by more than 200 percent in the first ten months of 2022 compared to the same period last year, while the police seized more than 60 tons of cannabis in the same period.