At least 18 African migrants have died from injuries sustained when they stormed border fences in the Spanish enclave of Melilla in Morocco. That is what the authorities in the Moroccan border town of Nador say.
A death toll of five was previously reported. Nearly 80 other migrants and some 140 police and other security personnel were injured in the storm.
Most security personnel were injured in the attempt to stop the migrants, Morocco’s interior ministry said.
About 130 migrants managed to reach Melilla after storming the border fences. It was the first time a large group of migrants tried to reach Spain and thus the European Union via Melilla since diplomatic relations between the Moroccan capital Rabat and Madrid normalized. The countries argued last year over the status of Western Sahara.
In that summer, groups of sometimes thousands of migrants stormed the enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta. The Moroccan border police regained control after the relationship between Madrid and Rabat improved.
Melilla and Ceuta in northern Morocco are a favorite target of illegal migrants. Here they can reach Spain and the European Union without having to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Spain therefore pays a lot of money to Morocco to guard the border. The two small tracts of land have been European property for six hundred years and are home to 170,000 people. Ceuta is located just south of Gibraltar and Melilla 225 kilometers to the east. Morocco also lays claim to the territories.