Moroccan authorities stepped up security in the northern city of Fnideq and surrounding areas on Friday following social media calls for a mass attempt to cross into the Spanish-administered enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.
Security checkpoints were reinforced on routes leading to Fnideq as well as in Tetouan, Tangier and Nador, according to an Anadolu correspondent.
Authorities also installed barbed wire along the border between Fnideq and Ceuta and deployed additional security personnel and auxiliary forces across the area.
The measures were introduced ahead of August 15, after Morocco’s Interior Ministry said it had detected anonymous social media posts encouraging people to participate in a mass unauthorised border crossing.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Rachid El Khalfi said authorities had been monitoring messages circulating online in recent days calling for coordinated attempts to enter Ceuta and Melilla.
El Khalfi warned that such attempts posed serious risks to participants’ safety and said those encouraging them could face legal action under Moroccan law.
Authorities are closely monitoring the situation and have taken measures aimed at preventing unauthorised crossings and identifying those involved in organising or encouraging them, he added.
Ceuta and Melilla, which are administered by Spain on the North African coast, have frequently been focal points for migrants attempting to enter European Union territory from Morocco.