Death toll rises as anti-government protests continue in Morocco
Moroccan authorities have updated the death toll from this week’s unrest to three, saying that armed teenage rioters stormed public buildings as the youth-led anti-government demonstrations showed few signs of abating.
Security forces opened fire at demonstrators on Wednesday, killing three people, in Leqliaa, a small town outside the city of Agadir. The previous death toll was two.
Morocco’s Interior Ministry said the three were shot dead during an attempt to seize police weapons, though no witnesses could corroborate the report.
The ministry said that 354 people — mostly law enforcement — had sustained injuries. It said hundreds of cars were damaged, as well as banks, shops and public buildings in 23 of the country’s provinces.
The demonstrations, organised by a leaderless movement dominated by internet-savvy youth, have taken the country by surprise and emerged as some of Morocco’s biggest in years. By midweek, they appeared to be spreading to new locations despite a lack of permits from authorities.
Those taking part in the so-called Gen Z protests decry what they see as widespread corruption. Through chants and posters, they have contrasted the flow of billions in investment towards preparation for the 2030 World Cup while many schools and hospitals lack funds and remain in a dire state.
Violence broke out in several places on Wednesday evening, following days of mass arrests in more than a dozen cities, particularly in places where jobs are scarce and social services lacking.
The chaos came despite warnings from authorities, political parties in government and the opposition and the organisers themselves. In a statement published on Discord, the Gen Z 212 protest movement earlier on Wednesday implored protesters to remain peaceful and blasted “repressive security approaches”.
“The right to health, education and a dignified life is not an empty slogan but a serious demand,” the organisers said.
Still, the protests have escalated and become more destructive, particularly in cities far from where development efforts have been concentrated in Morocco. Local outlets and footage filmed by witnesses on Tuesday showed protesters hurling rocks and setting vehicles ablaze in cities and towns in the country’s east and south.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights has said that 1,000 people have been apprehended, including many whose arrests were shown on video by local media and some who were detained by plain-clothes officers during live television interviews.
The “Gen Z” protests mirror similar unrest sweeping countries like Nepal and Madagascar. Demonstrators have harnessed anger about conditions in hospitals and schools to express outrage over the government’s spending priorities.
Pointing to new stadiums under construction or renovation across the country, protesters have chanted: “Stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?”. The recent deaths of eight women in public hospital in Agadir have become a rallying cry against the decline of Morocco’s health system.
As Morocco prepares to host soccer’s Africa Cup of Nations later this year and politicians gear up for a parliamentary election in 2026, the link has drawn attention to how deep disparities endure in the North African kingdom.
Despite rapid development, according to some metrics, many Moroccans feel disillusioned by its unevenness, with regional inequities, the state of public services and lack of opportunity, particularly for young people, fuelling discontent.
Officials have denied prioritising World Cup spending over public infrastructure, saying problems facing the health sector were inherited from previous governments.
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