Morocco attributes the assault on Melilla commanded by "militians" to the "deliberate laxity" of Algeria

At least 23 migrants died and 18 remain hospitalized

Morocco has stressed this Monday the "extreme violence" of last Friday's assault on the Melilla fence that left at least 23 sub-Saharans dead and has assured that the migrants were led by "experienced militiamen" who infiltrated through the border with Algeria.

"The extreme violence of the assailants and the strategy of the assault denotes a high sense of organization, a planned progression and a hierarchical structure of seasoned and trained leaders with profiles of experienced militiamen in conflict zones," sources from the Moroccan Embassy in Madrid consulted by Europa Press.

In addition, according to this source, the "attackers" entered Morocco through the border with Algeria "taking advantage of this country's deliberate laxity in controlling its borders with Morocco."

The sub-Saharans were "armed with sticks, machetes, stones and knives" and attacked the Moroccan security forces, resulting in 140 wounded agents, one of whom is still hospitalized, according to the sources consulted.

Morocco considers that the incident on Friday is "unprecedented" due to the strategy used by the assailants, who instead of going to the fence, went towards the four narrow corridors that lead to the border crossing of the Chinatown of Nador.

"The massive influx of attackers into these narrow corridors has caused a great avalanche. The death toll is 23 migrants and 76 injured, 18 of whom are still hospitalized," said the Moroccan source, who highlighted the "high sense of control and professionalism" of the Moroccan security forces.

Rabat thus points to the "dangerousness and violence of the trafficking networks that are willing to assume all the risks in the total denial of the sacredness of people's lives" and recalls that in the last five years they have dismantled 5,000 trafficking networks of human beings, 256 of them in 2021 and a hundred in 2022, and have prevented 360,000 irregular emigration attempts since 2017.

Morocco acknowledges the "real drama", but has stressed that "these trafficking networks use extremely violent stratagems, particularly during planned attacks in a quasi-military manner". In this context, he has assured that there are assailants with a "militian" profile and "former soldiers from countries destabilized by war and conflict."

In any case, Morocco has underlined its intention to continue with its "merciless and relentless" fight against human trafficking networks and with the reinforcement of cooperation with its partners and has therefore warned that "this situation cannot be at the center of the controversies that call into question the commitment and efforts made by Morocco to deal with this migratory pressure orchestrated by the mafias".

Thus, Morocco has highlighted its "humanistic, inclusive and supportive migratory governance, in the continuity of its eminently African vocation and around the cardinal paradigm of the protection of migrants and vulnerable victims" and has recalled that it has integration policies that They have made it possible to regularize 50,000 nationals of African countries since 2013 and with a voluntary return program with 8,100 repatriations since 2018.