Two people were shot dead when police opened fire on a crowd attempting to storm a police station in southern Morocco on Wednesday, state media said, as nationwide protests, fuelled by anger over corruption and inequality, entered their fifth day.
Two people were killed when officers opened fire on a group attempting to storm a police station inMoroccoon Wednesday, state media said, as protests sometimes violent roil the North African nation.
Demonstrations have convulsed Morocco for several days, urged on by theGen Z 212group, a recently formed collective based on the Discord web platform whose organisers remain unknown.
Moroccos interior ministry said on Wednesday that more than 400 people had been arrested and nearly 300 injured during rallies demanding reforms to the public health and education sectors.
Later that evening, a group tried to storm apolicestation in Lqliaa, near the coastal city of Agadir, the government-owned MAP news agency reported, citing local officials.
Officers were forced to use their service weapons, in legitimate self-defence, to repel (the) attack, which aimed to seize ammunition, equipment and service weapons, MAP quoted the unnamed officials as saying.
The officials said police beat back an initial attack, but the group came at them again, wielding bladed weapons, MAP reported.
During this attempt, two people died fromgunshot wounds, while others were injured during their participation in the attack, the officials said.
A judicial investigation into the incident has been opened, MAP reported.
Hundreds of protesters gathered on Wednesday in several Moroccan cities, including Casablanca, Tangier and Tetouan.
The rallies were taking place with official authorisation for the first time since their outbreak on Saturday.
Demonstrators called for the fall ofcorruptionas well as freedom, dignity and social justice, and some demanded that Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch step down.
Many, though not all, of theprotestshave been peaceful.
An AFP journalist in Sal, a city near the capital Rabat, witnessed hooded individuals setting fire to police cars and a bank branch.
Local media also reported incidents of vandalism in Sidi Bibi near Agadir, and in small towns that Gen Z 212 had not designated as protest sites.
Clashes
On Tuesday, unauthorisedprotests turned violentin cities including Oujda and Inezgane.
Ministry spokesman Rachid El Khalfi said the clashes involved protesters using knives, Molotov cocktails and stones.
A total of 263 police officers were wounded to varying degrees, along with 23 protesters, including one hospitalised in Oujda.
El Khalfi said 409 people were detained following the unrest, during which more than 140 police vehicles and 20 private cars were set ablaze.
Protesters also stormed government offices, bank branches and shops, looting and vandalising them, especially in Inezgane and Oujda, he said.
AFP footage showed tense confrontations lasting several hours along a main avenue in Inezgane.
In Rabat, prosecutors decided on Wednesday that a group of 97 people, including three in detention, would face trial, according to their lawyer, Souad Brahma. Another 26 people were released without charge, she said.
Prosecutors had already said an initial group of 37 people, including three in detention, would face trial on Tuesday, Brahma added.
Gen Z 212, which expressed regret over Tuesdays violence, describes itself as a discussion space focused on issues affecting all citizens, such as health, education and fighting corruption.
Social inequalityremains a major issue in Morocco, with sharp regional disparities and a significant gap between the public and private sectors.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Originally published on France24
