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.

The Algerian Foreign Ministry accused Morocco Sunday 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," FM spokesman Abdel-Aziz Ben Ali Sharif was quoted 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 the "shooting".

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.

Algeria shut its land border with Morocco for the last time in 1994 after Morocco imposed visa requirements on Algerians in the wake of a shooting attack in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

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.