By Ahmed Eljechtimi
RABAT (Reuters) -Youth-led protests demanding better education and healthcare in Morocco escalated into violent clashes with security forces on Tuesday evening, marking the fourth consecutive day of demonstrations across several cities.
The protests were organised online by a loosely formed, anonymous youth group calling itself “GenZ 212,” using platforms including TikTok, Instagram and the gaming application Discord.
In the southern cities of Tiznit, Inzegane, and Ait Amira, as well as the eastern city of Oujda, and Temara near the capital Rabat, hundreds of young protesters hurled stones at security forces attempting to disperse the gatherings, according to local media reports and witness accounts.
In Ait Amira, 560 km (350 miles) south of Rabat, demonstrators overturned and damaged several law enforcement vehicles and burned down a bank, footage shared by local media outlets showed.
In Inzegane, videos circulating on social media showed masked protesters setting fire to a bank, while others clashed with police who deployed water cannons.
Some cars were torched, and a group of protesters attempted to storm into a main supermarket, according to witnesses and videos shared online.
Further south in Tiznit, dozens of protesters threw stones at law enforcement officers as they tried to break up the rally, witnesses told Reuters.
Protesters briefly chanted slogans, including “The people want an end to corruption,” they said.
In Oujda, a protester suffered serious injuries after he was hit by a security forces’ car, state news agency MAP reported.
In Rabat, police arrested dozens of young people as they attempted to begin chanting slogans in a densely populated neighbourhood, a Reuters witness reported.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) said 37 youths were on bail, pending an investigation.
Hakim Saikuk, head of the AMDH section in Rabat, condemned the arrests as unconstitutional.
In Casablanca, 24 protesters who blocked a highway on Sunday were under judicial investigation, according to the public prosecutor.
The government coalition issued a statement on Tuesday expressing willingness to engage in dialogue with youth “within institutions and public spaces to find realistic solutions”.
It also praised what it called “the balanced reaction of security authorities in line with relevant legal procedures”.
The interior ministry was not immediately available to comment on the incidents.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Leslie Adler and Michael Perry)
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