RABAT, OCT 1 (AFP/APP): Violent clashes erupted in several Moroccan cities late Tuesday between youths and security forces, local media reported, after days of protests calling for reforms in the public health and education sectors.
Videos published by news outlets which AFP was unable to verify showed masked demonstrators in Inezgane, near Agadir, hurling stones at police, setting fires near a shopping center and damaging a local post office.
Similar scenes were reported in nearby Ait Amira, in central Morocco’s Beni Mellal and in Oujda in the northeast.
It remained unclear whether there were any injuries.
The youth-led protests were initiated by a collective known as “GenZ 212”, whose founders remain unknown.
In a statement posted late Tuesday on its Facebook page, the group expressed “regret over acts of rioting or vandalism that affected public or private property”.
It also urged participants to remain strictly peaceful and avoid any behaviour that could “undermine the legitimacy of our just demands”.
The new protests marked the fourth consecutive day of demonstrations, though there were no reports of violence before today.
Moroccan prosecutors have said they will try 37 people for participating in the protests, one of their lawyers said.
“Thirty-four individuals will be prosecuted while free on bail, with their trial scheduled to begin on October 7, while three others will face prosecution in detention,” lawyer Souad Brahma told AFP, adding that the exact charges against them were not yet known.
More than 200 mainly young demonstrators have been arrested over the past three days in Rabat during gatherings that were dispersed by police, said the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH). Most were later released.
