Police kill 2, arrest 400 in Morocco protests

Two people were killed when officers opened fire on a group of people attempting to “storm” a police station in Morocco on Wednesday, October 1, 2025.

The protests, which began on Saturday with demands for better education and healthcare, have been organized online by a loosely formed, anonymous youth group calling itself “GenZ 212.”

The group has used platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and the gaming app Discord to mobilize support.

The GenZ 212 movement is inspired by similar youth-led protests in Asia and Latin America. Membership in GenZ 212’s Discord server surged from around 3,000 last week to more than 130,000 today, reflecting the rapid growth of the youth-led protest movement.

Morocco’s interior ministry said on Wednesday that more than 400 people had been arrested and nearly 300 injured during the rallies, which are demanding reforms to the public health and education sectors.

A group of people tried later that evening to “storm” a police station in Lqliaa, near the coastal city of Agadir, the government-owned MAP news agency reported, citing local officials.

Officers “were forced to use their service weapons, in legitimate self-defence, to repel (the) attack”, which aimed to “seize ammunition, equipment and service weapons”, officials said.

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The officials said police beat back an initial attack, but the group came at them again, wielding “bladed weapons”.

“During this attempt, two people died from gunshot wounds, while others were injured during their participation in the attack,” the officials added.

The officials added that judicial investigation into the incident had been opened.

Hundreds of protesters gathered on Wednesday in several Moroccan cities, including Casablanca, Tangier, and Tetouan.

The rallies were taking place with official authorisation for the first time since their initial outbreak on Saturday.

Demonstrators called for “the fall of corruption” as well as “freedom, dignity and social justice”, and some called for Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch to step down.

Many, but not all, of the protests have been peaceful.

An AFP journalist in Sale, a city near the capital Rabat, witnessed people wearing hoods setting fire to police cars and a bank branch.

Local media also reported incidents of vandalism in Sidi Bibi near Agadir, and in small towns that GenZ 212 had not designated as protest sites.

On Tuesday, unauthorised protests turned violent in cities including Oujda and Inzegane.

Ministry spokesman Rachid El Khalfi said the clashes involved protesters using knives, Molotov cocktails, and stones.

The Star