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GenZ Protesters Clash with Security Forces in Morocco

Protesters shout slogans during a youth-led demonstration in a market area in Rabat on September 29, 2025, calling for reforms in the public, health and education sectors. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)
Protesters shout slogans during a youth-led demonstration in a market area in Rabat on September 29, 2025, calling for reforms in the public, health and education sectors. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)
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GenZ Protesters Clash with Security Forces in Morocco

Protesters shout slogans during a youth-led demonstration in a market area in Rabat on September 29, 2025, calling for reforms in the public, health and education sectors. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)
Protesters shout slogans during a youth-led demonstration in a market area in Rabat on September 29, 2025, calling for reforms in the public, health and education sectors. (Photo by Abdel Majid BZIOUAT / AFP)

Demonstrations have convulsed Morocco for several days, urged on by the GenZ 212 group, a recently formed collective based on the Discord web platform whose organizers remain unknown.

Morocco's interior ministry said on Wednesday that more than 400 people had been arrested and nearly 300 injured during the rallies, which are demanding “reforms to the public health and education sectors”.

Hundreds of protesters gathered on Wednesday in several Moroccan cities, including Casablanca, Tangier and Tetouan.

The rallies were taking place with official authorization for the first time since their initial outbreak on Saturday.

Demonstrators called for "the fall of corruption" as well as "freedom, dignity and social justice".

An AFP journalist in Sale, a city near the capital Rabat, witnessed people wearing hoods setting fire to police cars and a bank branch.

Local media also reported incidents of vandalism in Sidi Bibi near Agadir, and in small towns that GenZ 212 had not designated as protest sites.

On Tuesday, unauthorized protests turned violent in cities including Oujda and Inzegane.

A total of 263 police officers were wounded to varying degrees, along with 23 protesters, including one hospitalized in Oujda.

Protesters reportedly also stormed government offices, bank branches and shops, looting and vandalizing them, especially in Inzegane and Oujda.

AFP footage showed tense confrontations lasting several hours along a main avenue in Inezgane.

In Rabat, prosecutors decided on Wednesday that a group of 97 people, including three in detention, would face trial, according to their lawyer, Souad Brahma. Another 26 people were released without charges, she said.

Prosecutors had already said an initial group of 37 people, including three in detention, would face trial on Tuesday, said Brahma.

GenZ 212, which expressed "regret" over Tuesday's violence, describes itself as a "discussion space" focused on issues affecting all citizens, such as health, education and fighting corruption.

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Arab World

Lebanon, Britain to Hold Joint Military Exercise Starting Tuesday

A Lebanese flag flies as buildings lie in ruins in Mansouri, as seen from Henniye, Lebanon, September 29, 2026. (Reuters)
A Lebanese flag flies as buildings lie in ruins in Mansouri, as seen from Henniye, Lebanon, September 29, 2026. (Reuters)
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Lebanon, Britain to Hold Joint Military Exercise Starting Tuesday

A Lebanese flag flies as buildings lie in ruins in Mansouri, as seen from Henniye, Lebanon, September 29, 2026. (Reuters)
A Lebanese flag flies as buildings lie in ruins in Mansouri, as seen from Henniye, Lebanon, September 29, 2026. (Reuters)

Lebanon's army will hold exercises with the British military this month, both sides said on Monday, with the drills also to involve personnel and representatives from countries including the United States and France.

Britain has been a key supporter of the cash-strapped Lebanese army and has provided millions of dollars in assistance over the years, including helping train Lebanese soldiers to secure the country's land borders.

The Lebanese army said that the joint "Pegasus Cedar 2026" exercise would begin on Tuesday and aimed to "bolster the capabilities of military units and raise the level of coordination between the Lebanese army and friendly armies".

It said the exercise would include "training on reconnaissance, raids and combat in built-up areas", among other activities.

A British embassy statement said British soldiers based in Cyprus would "join their Lebanese counterparts in the Air Assault Regiment in a landmark military exercise aimed at strengthening bilateral defense ties and enhancing operational readiness".

"Personnel from the armies of the United States and Italy will also take part, with representatives from the armies of France, Cyprus, Qatar, and Jordan joining as observers," it added.

The exercise, to be held over three weeks, builds on a previous UK-Lebanon military training exercise held in September 2023, the embassy statement added.

Lebanese authorities have called for increased support for the country's under-resourced army, which counts some 80,000 personnel and depends heavily on foreign aid.

The military faces enormous challenges in completing its deployment to south Lebanon under a framework agreement reached in June between Israel and Lebanon that involves the disarmament of the Hezbollah group and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Hezbollah drew the country into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion.

While violence has dropped since June, Israel still carries out attacks and demolitions, and its troops are occupying a self-declared "security zone" running around 10 kilometers (six miles) inside Lebanon along the border.

The fighting followed another conflict that erupted in 2023 that led to an all-out war the following year.

Last month in Paris, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and Jordan's King Abdullah II, and discussed international support for the country's military.

Arab World

UN Chief Calls for Gaza Ceasefire Ahead of Oct 7 Anniversary

A photograph shows destruction at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, with an Israeli flag fluttering in the background, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph shows destruction at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, with an Israeli flag fluttering in the background, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)
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UN Chief Calls for Gaza Ceasefire Ahead of Oct 7 Anniversary

A photograph shows destruction at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, with an Israeli flag fluttering in the background, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph shows destruction at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, with an Israeli flag fluttering in the background, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

"It is time for the ceasefire to become permanent. It is time to allow humanitarian assistance at scale. And it is time to respect international law," Guterres said in a statement, calling for a "political path to lasting peace across the whole region."

"Let this anniversary mark not only another year of mourning, but also a renewed determination to build a different future: one in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in peace and security, with their rights, dignity, and aspirations fulfilled," Guterres said.

The UN chief acknowledged Israel's casualties in the statement, calling the Hamas attack "abhorrent" for "killing more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals" and the hostage-taking of another 251 people.

Guterres also said Palestinians in Gaza have faced a "massive loss of life, displacement and destruction," without specifying their death toll.

"Their suffering, too, demands an end, now," Guterres said.

Israel's years-long military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 74,200 people according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which is under Hamas' authority and whose figures are deemed reliable by the UN.

Guterres acknowledged that a brief ceasefire, announced by US President Donald Trump in October 2025, "brought some relief. But it has yet to deliver security, adequate humanitarian assistance or a credible path to recovery and peace."

Israel, which still controls most of Gaza, refuses to withdraw its soldiers until Hamas' disarmament has been verified.

Hamas, for its part, has advocated for gradual disarmament rather than immediate and unilateral surrender of its arsenal.

Since the 2023 attacks, Israel has waged military attacks on several fronts, notably invading southern Lebanon to confront Hezbollah, the movement backed by Tehran, and launching war against Iran in late February alongside the United States.

Arab World

ISIS Attack Kills Iraqi Policeman Near Kirkuk

Iraqi police patrol vehicles are stationed outside the Karkh Court house during the trial of six French citizens accused of terrorism in Baghdad, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)
Iraqi police patrol vehicles are stationed outside the Karkh Court house during the trial of six French citizens accused of terrorism in Baghdad, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)
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ISIS Attack Kills Iraqi Policeman Near Kirkuk

Iraqi police patrol vehicles are stationed outside the Karkh Court house during the trial of six French citizens accused of terrorism in Baghdad, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)
Iraqi police patrol vehicles are stationed outside the Karkh Court house during the trial of six French citizens accused of terrorism in Baghdad, on October 5, 2026. (AFP)

At least ‌one Iraqi federal policeman was killed and four others wounded on Monday when ISIS militants attacked a federal police site southwest of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, two security sources told Reuters.

The attackers used semi-automatic machine guns and sniper fire against the federal police regiment stationed near Hawija, about 70 km (43 miles) southwest of Kirkuk, the sources said.

There ‌was no ‌immediate claim of responsibility. But ‌security and ⁠army sources said ⁠ ISIS militants, who are still active in the area, were involved in the attack.

The attack is the first reported assault by ISIS on Iraqi security forces since US forces completed their withdrawal ⁠from Iraq on September 30, ending ‌the military mission in ‌the country.

The United States had led a ‌coalition that supported Iraqi forces in the fight ‌against ISIS, including efforts to prevent the militant group from regrouping.

Washington said it would continue to provide targeted training and intelligence support after ‌the withdrawal, while Iraqi forces would take full responsibility for the country’s security ⁠and ⁠for suppressing ISIS remnants.

Despite the defeat of ISIS nearly a decade ago, the group retains sleeper cells in Iraq, Iraqi security officials told Reuters ahead of the US withdrawal.

The withdrawal had raised concerns that a security vacuum could provide an opening for ISIS to regain strength, with some officials warning that Iraqi forces would now have to contain the group without the coalition’s military presence.