Moroccan security forces intercepted 294 candidates for irregular migration in and around Fnideq near occupied Ceuta on Saturday, August 15, as authorities mounted a large-scale operation to prevent any attempted mass crossing toward the Spanish-controlled enclave, a security source told Moroccan media.
The updated toll marked a sharp rise from the 111 arrests logged earlier that morning, according to the source.
Of the 294 people intercepted, 248 were sub-Saharan African nationals and 46 were Moroccan citizens. The figure was described as provisional, with authorities cautioning it could still climb as operations continued on the ground.
The sweep unfolded alongside a heavy security deployment across the hills overlooking Sebta and the surrounding forests near Belyounech.
A Royal Gendarmerie helicopter provided aerial surveillance over ground search operations, as police fanned out through wooded areas where African migrants had scattered without reaching the border fence.
Separately, roughly 300 people who had gathered in the heights near Sebta were prevented from approaching or entering the enclave.
The operation followed a warning from Moroccan authorities earlier in the week that they had taken measures to head off a repeat of the kind of mass crossing attempt seen weeks earlier, after online posts falsely claimed the Fnideq and Melilla borders would be “opened” on August 15, a Spanish public holiday.
According to Moroccan outlets Le360 and Hespress, police also arrested 61 people in recent days accused of inciting or promoting irregular migration on social media.
Saturday’s operation comes roughly two weeks after some 40,000 entered the Spanish occupied city.
