More than 200 migrants stormed across a triple-layer border fence into Spain's north African territory of Melilla on Friday, Spanish authorities said, in one of the largest such crossings in years.
Some 300 people launched the dawn assault to cross into the Spanish city, which lies on the northern tip of Morocco, and 214 made it across, the authorities said.
"They were singing songs of joy through various parts of the city," the Spanish government authority in Melilla said in a statement.
The assault began around 6:00 am, it said, as migrants assembled on the Moroccan side of the border.
"The crossing was marked by the throwing of all kinds of objects -- stones, sticks and bottles -- at police," the statement said.
One Spanish officer was grazed on the scalp and another lightly bruised on the leg.
Thirty-four of the migrants who took part in the border assault were taken to hospital in nearby Nador in Morocco suffering from cuts and fractures, said Adil Akid from the Moroccan Association of Human Rights who visited the hospital.
One of the injured was in critical condition after suffering serious head injuries, he added.
Seven of the other injured sustained fractures, with the rest suffering cuts from the barbed wire placed along the top of the fence.
It was the latest in a series of coordinated assaults by African migrants on the border of Melilla, which along with fellow Spanish territory Ceuta has the European Union's only land borders with Africa.
- 'Invasion' of hundreds -
The two cities sit across the Mediterranean from mainland Spain, surrounded by Moroccan territory.
"Hundreds and hundreds more immigrants are going to continue to arrive because police don't have enough officers to fend off this invasion of Spanish territory," said Melilla's councillor for development, youth and sports, Miguel Marin.
At least 14 migrants drowned in Moroccan waters on February 6 while trying to enter Ceuta by sea after several hundred tried to storm the land border.
In that incident, Spanish security forces were accused by human rights groups and witnesses of firing rubber bullets at the immigrants, sparking a heated debate in Spain.
This week, Spain's interior ministry said it had banned border guards from firing rubber bullets to stop migrants crossing the fence into its north African territories.
The ministry said civil guards fired rubber bullets, but denied this action contributed to the drownings.
The immigration centre in Melilla with a capacity for 480 people has overflowed in recent days and is brimmimg with 1,300 people, its director Carlos Montero told AFP.
A total of 214 new migrants arrived at the centre after Friday's border assault, he added.
Army tents have been set up on the site to accommodate the flood of new arrivals.
On February 17 about 150 African migrants made it into Melilla in another mass assault by migrants bearing sticks and stones.
Some 500 migrants stormed the fence on Monday and about 100 made it over in what an official described as a "very violent" assault that left 27 people injured.
Spanish authorities last year put barbed wire on top of the barrier as a deterrent, drawing criticism from rights groups.
Depending on treaties between Spain and the country of origin of each immigrant who makes it into Melilla, some are repatriated and others are allowed into Spain.
More than 200 migrants stormed across a triple-layer border fence into Spain’s north African territory of Melilla on Friday, Spanish authorities said, in one of the largest such crossings in years.
Some 300 people launched the dawn assault to cross into the Spanish city, which lies on the northern tip of Morocco, and 214 made it across, the authorities said.
“They were singing songs of joy through various parts of the city,” the Spanish government authority in Melilla said in a statement.
The assault began around 6:00 am, it said, as migrants assembled on the Moroccan side of the border.
“The crossing was marked by the throwing of all kinds of objects — stones, sticks and bottles — at police,” the statement said.
One Spanish officer was grazed on the scalp and another lightly bruised on the leg.
Thirty-four of the migrants who took part in the border assault were taken to hospital in nearby Nador in Morocco suffering from cuts and fractures, said Adil Akid from the Moroccan Association of Human Rights who visited the hospital.
One of the injured was in critical condition after suffering serious head injuries, he added.
Seven of the other injured sustained fractures, with the rest suffering cuts from the barbed wire placed along the top of the fence.
It was the latest in a series of coordinated assaults by African migrants on the border of Melilla, which along with fellow Spanish territory Ceuta has the European Union’s only land borders with Africa.
– ‘Invasion’ of hundreds –
The two cities sit across the Mediterranean from mainland Spain, surrounded by Moroccan territory.
“Hundreds and hundreds more immigrants are going to continue to arrive because police don’t have enough officers to fend off this invasion of Spanish territory,” said Melilla’s councillor for development, youth and sports, Miguel Marin.
At least 14 migrants drowned in Moroccan waters on February 6 while trying to enter Ceuta by sea after several hundred tried to storm the land border.
In that incident, Spanish security forces were accused by human rights groups and witnesses of firing rubber bullets at the immigrants, sparking a heated debate in Spain.
This week, Spain’s interior ministry said it had banned border guards from firing rubber bullets to stop migrants crossing the fence into its north African territories.
The ministry said civil guards fired rubber bullets, but denied this action contributed to the drownings.
The immigration centre in Melilla with a capacity for 480 people has overflowed in recent days and is brimmimg with 1,300 people, its director Carlos Montero told AFP.
A total of 214 new migrants arrived at the centre after Friday’s border assault, he added.
Army tents have been set up on the site to accommodate the flood of new arrivals.
On February 17 about 150 African migrants made it into Melilla in another mass assault by migrants bearing sticks and stones.
Some 500 migrants stormed the fence on Monday and about 100 made it over in what an official described as a “very violent” assault that left 27 people injured.
Spanish authorities last year put barbed wire on top of the barrier as a deterrent, drawing criticism from rights groups.
Depending on treaties between Spain and the country of origin of each immigrant who makes it into Melilla, some are repatriated and others are allowed into Spain.
