This generation is defiant': Gen Z protests set to resume in Morocco despite deaths and arrests

"Ayoub Oubalat shares a picture of what he says is his younger brother covered with a white blanket. The man's eyes are closed and his left eye is bruised blue. At the crown of his head a hole is visible within his dark curly hair, the entry point where the bullet pierced, now shaved and stitched with blue and black thread."

"A recently graduated film-maker, Abdessamade, 24, and two others were allegedly killed on 1 October when security forces opened fire on protesters in the town of Lqliaa, near the Atlantic coastal town of Agadir. Authorities claim Abdessamade was part of a group that violently stormed the local police station, to which officers responded with fire. But Ayoub says his brother was a peaceful man who had found himself near the protests and spontaneously started filming."

"The death is one of three reported as a wave of youth-led Gen Z protests has gripped Morocco over the past fortnight. Protesters have criticised the underfunding of healthcare and education facilities amid spending on expensive stadiums as the country gears up to co-host the 2030 Fifa World Cup. The GenZ 212 protests, named after Morocco's international dialling code, have been met with a strong response from police, with reports of more than 500 arrests made within the first six days."

A 24-year-old recently graduated filmmaker, Abdessamade Oubalat, was killed on 1 October in Lqliaa near Agadir after security forces opened fire on protesters. A photograph shows a man covered with a white blanket, a bruised left eye and a shaved, stitched wound at the crown consistent with a gunshot entry. Authorities allege involvement in an attack on the local police station; family members describe him as a peaceful bystander who was filming and had applied to join the police two days earlier. The death is among three reported during youth-led Gen Z protests over underfunded healthcare and education and stadium spending ahead of the 2030 World Cup. Police made over 500 arrests in the first six days, and the king called for rapid social reforms without addressing protesters' specific demands to tackle corruption or release activists.

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