More than 2,000 people try to jump fence into Spanish African enclave

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - More than 2,000 people tried to jump the border fence into Spain’s Northern African enclave of Melilla on Wednesday morning, a Spanish government delegate said.

“Since I’ve been in the government delegation there hasn’t been a jump with so many people,” said Sabrina Moh, who has been in the post for four years.

Authorities estimate that around 500 people managed to cross. Several people are reportedly injured from the assault on the border, including migrants and police.

Spanish news agency Europa Press reported that the migrants were able to cross after throwing objects at Moroccan border police, who were trying to stop their advance.

Although the migrants did cross from Morocco, local authorities said most people were from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Videos from Melilla showed groups of predominately young men, some bleeding and injured, celebrating after having successfully crossed.

Meanwhile, as the debate continues in Spain over assisting Ukrainian refugees and fighters, the far-right party Vox called on the government to deploy the Spanish military to Melilla to protect Spain’s borders with Morocco.