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Rabat – A Spanish civil guard was injured in a “violent” crossing attempt at the Melilla border on Wednesday morning and required urgent medical intervention, Spanish authorities have reported.
Government sources indicated that one of the seven migrants who successfully crossed the border assaulted one of the civil guards deployed with a hook.
The immigrant reportedly used the hook he was carrying to help him climb the border perimeter to injure the agent on the chin.
The civil guard required medical intervention and several stitches to close the wound, one government source said, adding that the guard’s condition is “the result of the violence with which the jump took place.”
Melilla’s Government Delegation has confirmed that the jump to the fence occurred around 4.30 am on Wednesday in the area near the border crossing of Barrio Chino, which was approached from the Moroccan side by “a small group of sub-Saharans individuals.”
Of the twelve people who tried to cross the border, seven managed to enter Melilla despite the anti-intrusion device of the Civil Guard and the collaboration of the Moroccan forces.
The seven immigrants have been admitted to the Center for Temporary Stay of Immigrants (CETI), where they were given masks and water.
On their way to the migration center, running through the town center, the seven sub-Saharans showed their joy with shouts of “boza” (victory) and “free.”
Spanish Civil Guards and Moroccan border patrol units are often victims of violence from Europe-bound irregular migrants while performing their duties.
Melilla authorities have cited this frequent occurrence as a primary motivation for the new anti-intrusion equipment on the border wall separating Morocco and the Spanish enclave.
Colonel Antonio Sierras Sanchez, chief of the Spanish guards, announced on Tuesday the introduction of a new surveillance mechanism to reduce the amount of risk that Moroccan and Spanish civil guards face when securing the border.
The update to the border includes a smart wall and surveillance drones.
“Many Moroccan agents have been injured or lost their lives trying to repel assaults by migrants of rare violence,” he said. On the Spanish side, more than 60 civil guards have been injured in 2021.
