Around 2,000 migrants stormed a border fence that separates the autonomous city of Melilla from Morocco on Friday, at least 18 of whom died, Moroccan officials said. 

Authorities said at least 76 people were injured as people stormed the barrier, some falling from the top of the fence.

Morocco deployed a large number of forces who "cooperated actively" with Spain's security forces to deter the would-be entrants, the Spanish government's local delegation said in a statement.

Some 500 people managed to enter the border control area. Those who crossed successfully were transported to a local migrant center where Spanish authorities were evaluating their circumstances.

Melilla is one of two EU borders that rest on African soil. Friday's crossing marks the first attempted mass migration into the autonomous territory since the border's reopening earlier this year. Thousands of asylum-seekers have made the perilous journey to Melilla as a springboard to continental Europe.

Migrants cross border with Spain as entry point to Europe

Would-be entrants come from Morocco and neighboring Tunisia as well as Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and the Ivory Coast. Access to the border has been a bargaining chip in diplomatic disputes between Spain and Morocco.

 

Madrid insists that Melilla and Ceuta — its second shared border with Morocco — are Spanish territory. However, Rabat also claimed the areas as its own. Tensions eased when Madrid agreed to support Rabat's plan to grant more autonomy to Western Sahara. 

The border had been closed to entrants from Morocco for two years before Rabat and Spain came to an agreement for its reopening in May. Several groups attempted mass crossings in the months before the resolution.

In March, an estimated 2,000 migrants stormed the border in what was called the "biggest entry attempt on record,” by the Spanish government's local delegation. A near 500 people made it across in that instance, according to Spanish authorities.

Spain will attempt to have "irregular migration" added as one of the security threats to NATO's southern-most countries at the bloc's summit in Madrid next week.

asw/dj (AFP,AP)