The World - News from July 23, 1986

Attackers in small boats fired on a Spanish trawler and a Soviet fish factory ship off the Western Sahara coast, killing a Spanish sailor and wounding another. Although no group claimed responsibility, the Polisario Front has attacked fishing vessels in the area in the past. The guerrilla group is fighting for control of the former Spanish territory, now claimed by Morocco. Spanish maritime radio said the crew abandoned the trawler Andes after it was set afire by machine-gun and mortar fire. Several hours later, men in a rubber launch opened fire on the Soviet ship Tito Uncriak about 90 miles south of the first attack. Spanish radio quoted sources as saying the Soviet crew returned the fire.