Police fire tear gas at protesters in restive
The tear gas was fired as dozens of young people threw stones at the riot police in the alleys of Sidi Abed neighbourhood.
Protesters face security forces during a demonstration against corruption and employment in the northern Rif region, June 8, 2017 in Al Hoceima, Morocco
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The tear gas was fired as dozens of young people threw stones at the riot police in the alleys of Sidi Abed neighbourhood, where demonstrations have been held for days without any violence.
The northern port city of Al-Hoceima, in the neglected Rif region, has been rocked by social unrest since the death in October of a fishmonger.
Mouhcine Fikri, 31, was crushed in a rubbish truck as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season and his death has sparked fury and triggered nationwide protests.
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The demonstrations have snowballed, giving way to a wider protest movement demanding more development and railing against corruption, repression and unemployment.
In Sidi Abed on Thursday, groups of young people gathered again for a surprise demonstration in the alleys of the neighbourhood.
Police responded by forcefully pushing them back to a square where several of them began throwing stones, an AFP correspondent reported.
At least two people were injured: a policeman hit in the jaw by a stone and a demonstrator who had been struck with truncheons.
Two hours after it started the violence subsided.
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"A group of teenagers and minors wanted to occupy the streets, the police intervened and now everything is back to normal," a local official told AFP.
Demonstrators have rallied in Al-Hoceima for more than a week after the arrest on May 29 of protest leader Nasser Zefzafi following three days on the run.
Security forces have carried out 87 arrests in the past 10 days, official figures show, including Zefzafi, who is the head of the Al-Hirak al-Shaabi, or "Popular Movement".
The Rif has long had a tense relationship with the central authorities in Rabat, and it was at the heart of the Arab Spring-inspired protests in Morocco in February 2011.
King Mohamed VI relinquished some of his near-absolute control through constitutional reforms following the 2011 protests.
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