Seventeen members of the security forces were injured to varying degrees on Sunday in Smara during an intervention to disperse a gathering on the public highway.

The injured were admitted to the provincial hospital of Smara, a statement from the province of Smara indicates, specifying that two of them were evacuated to hospital establishments in Laâyoune.

The same source stresses that several people gathered at the Moulay Rachid district in Smara and erected barricades in an attempt to occupy the public highway and obstruct traffic, thus creating a chaotic situation, adding that minors were exploited for this purpose.

After the required warnings, the security forces were forced to intervene, in strict compliance with routine procedures, to disperse the crowd and clear the public highway, particularly following intense stone-throwing, the objective of which was to provoke these forces, the statement explains.

According to the same source, the population of the district vigorously denounced these "abject acts that undermine public order, social peace, and the stability" enjoyed by the city of Smara.