The youth protests in Morocco turned violent, hurting 260 members of the security forces
Morocco’s cities saw much more violent youth protests on the fourth night of unrest, according to reports released Wednesday by the government. 263 members of the security forces and 23 citizens were hurt as protesters set cars on fire and ransacked stores.
Demonstrations started on Saturday and have gotten worse over the last few nights. Online, a loosely organized, anonymous youth group calling itself “GenZ 212” has used platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and the game app Discord to plan the protests, which call for better education and health care.
As part of Tuesday’s fourth night of protests, young men threw stones and Molotov bombs, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry. In total, 409 people were arrested, he said.
He said that in the Souss region towns of Ait Amira, Inezgane, Agadir, and Tiznit, as well as in the eastern city of Oujda, shops, banks, and administrative buildings were broken into or broken into completely.
When talking about the protests on social media, the GenZ 212 group said it was against violence and would keep protesting peacefully. According to it, it only had a problem with the government and not with the security forces.
There were 142 security truck fires and 20 private car fires, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry.
A lot of peaceful protests have happened in Morocco about the country’s economic and social problems in the past, but this week’s are the most violent since at least 2016 and 2017, when protesters fought with police in the Rif region in the north.
Legally, the Interior Ministry will support the right to protest, and they will react with “restraint and self-control, avoiding provocation,” a spokesperson said.
