Dozens of sub-Saharan migrants were taken to a Moroccan hospital with injuries Friday, after hundreds of them stormed the border fence into Spain's north African territory of Melilla, rights activists said.
Around 300 people launched the dawn assault to cross into the Spanish city, which lies on the northern tip of Morocco, with 214 making it across, Spanish authorities said, in one of the largest such crossings in years.
Among those who failed to reach Melilla, 35 were taken to hospital in nearby Nador, said Hicham Rachidi, secretary general of the Moroccan migrant support group GADEM.
Two of the migrants were in critical condition after being beaten by the Moroccan security forces, including one who was operated on after sustaining severe head injuries, Rachidi told AFP.
"The Moroccan security forces used a lot of violence against the migrants, which completely contradicts their new immigration policy," he said.
Thirty-three migrants eventually discharged from hospital were arrested and taken to the police station in Nador.
The interior ministry declined to comment, when contacted.
