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At least two people have been killed in Morocco after police opened fire to stop protesters from storming a police station in Lqliaa, near the coastal city of Agadir, state media reports.
These are the first deaths since youth-led demonstrations erupted nationwide on Saturday, fuelled by anger over the government’s decision to invest billions in building stadiums for the 2030 Fifa World Cup while public services remain neglected and the economy struggles.
“Stadiums are here, but where are the hospitals?” has become a defining chant of the Gen Z protest movement.
One demonstrator from Oujda, near the Algerian border, said that his local hospital felt like a “jail” — dirty, overcrowded, and plagued by corruption, where patients must pay bribes just to see a doctor.
The protests, largely held at night, turned deadly on Wednesday when police said they were forced to fire live ammunition “in legitimate self-defence” after crowds tried to attack the station in Lqliaa. Earlier the same day, the interior ministry had pledged to respect the right to protest “within the law.”
The movement, calling itself GenZ 212 after Morocco’s international dialling code, has no formal leaders but has rapidly gained traction online. Organisers have condemned the violence, stressing their focus is on peaceful demonstrations.
Morocco faces severe economic pressures: unemployment sits at 12.8% overall, rising to 35.8% among young people and 19% among university graduates, according to official figures.
Unrest has spread to Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, and Marrakesh, where protesters reportedly burned a police station. Authorities say 409 people have been detained, more than 260 police officers and 20 protesters injured, and dozens of vehicles torched.
The movement echoes youth uprisings this summer in Nepal, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Madagascar. In Nepal, the prime minister resigned; in Madagascar, the president dissolved his government earlier this week to calm anger.
Morocco’s governing coalition has expressed willingness to open dialogue with the youth, praising what it called the “balanced reaction” of security forces.
