MOROCCO ROCKED BY PROTESTS: TWO DEAD, HUNDREDS ARRESTED IN GENZ-LED UPRISING

Thu 02 October 2025:

Two individuals were killed when police fired on a crowd trying to “storm” a police station in southern Morocco, state media reported, amid ongoing, occasionally violent youth-led protests across the country.

Morocco’s Ministry of Interior announced on Wednesday that around 300 people, most of them members of the security forces, were injured during clashes in several cities. The ministry also said that 409 demonstrators were placed in police custody after the fourth day of protests called by the youth movement Gen Z 212.

The ministry’s spokesperson, Rachid El Khalfi, said some of the protests “showed dangerous escalation that threatened public safety and order, after turning into violent gatherings where some individuals used knives, petrol bombs, and threw stones.”

According to him, by Tuesday night “263 members of the security forces had suffered injuries of varying severity, while 23 other people were also injured, including one case requiring medical follow-up.”

Two people were killed when officers opened fire on a group of protesters that state media said were attempting to “storm” a police station in Morocco on Wednesday.

Morocco’s interior ministry said more than 400 people have been arrested and nearly 300 injured during the… pic.twitter.com/flgTEGBMOd

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 2, 2025

Since Saturday, authorities have been preventing activists from the movement, whose organisers remain anonymous, from demonstrating on the grounds that the group is unlicensed. Previous bans had not led to clashes.

A fifth night of youth protests were held in cities across the North African country, but authorities said the fourth night had turned more violent than before. They reported that 263 members of the security forces and 23 civilians were injured as demonstrators torched cars and ransacked shops.

The demonstrations have been organised online by a loosely formed, anonymous youth group calling itself GenZ 212, using platforms including TikTok, Instagram and the gaming application Discord.

On Tuesday night, young men brandished knives and threw Molotov cocktails and stones, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said in a statement. He said 409 people were taken into police custody.

Administrative buildings, banks and shops were looted or vandalised in the Souss region cities of Ait Amira, Inezgane, Agadir and Tiznit, as well as the eastern city of Oujda, he said.

Videos circulating on social media showed damaged ATMs and a bank building that appeared to have been looted, with broken glass scattered across the ground.

Pointing to new stadiums under construction or renovation across the country, protesters have chanted, “Stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?” and alleged rampant corruption at the public’s expense.

As Morocco prepares to host football’s Africa Cup of Nations later this year and politicians gear up for parliamentary elections in 2026, the link has drawn attention to how deep disparities endure in the country.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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