Morocco stresses that the assault on the Melilla fence “was carried out in a well-studied manner”.

Moroccan authorities have indicated that the assault on the Melilla fence at the end of June by hundreds of migrants was “premeditated and planned” and added that “it was executed in a well-studied manner, far from the usual assault attempts.”

Moroccan government spokesman Mustafa Baitas has indicated that the migrants resorted to methods of “great violence” against the security forces and stressed that the authorities have sent a delegation to the area to analyze the situation in and around the city of Nador.

“Judicial investigations into these events are currently underway and, in the framework of the enshrinement of the principle of independence of the judiciary, the conclusions and results of these proceedings still underway cannot be addressed,” he said, as reported by the Moroccan state news agency, MAP.

The attempt of about 2,000 migrants to jump the fence of Melilla during the day of June 24 resulted in at least 23 deaths, according to the official balance, although several NGOs raise the figure to at least 37 deaths and denounce the brutality of the repression by the security forces.