Ambush on troops in Ceuta: police and civil guards demand more resources amid wave of assaults
A group of 30 to 40 men attacked four soldiers with stones in Benzú, leaving them injured. Agents and troops deployed in Ceuta report lack of resources and protection.
Military personnel, police and civil guards in Ceuta: "We are unprotected and abandoned"
Nearly a month after the massive arrival of migrants from Morocco on 30 July, Ceuta continues in a state of emergency that is pushing the State Security Forces and Bodies to their limits. According to El Mundo, the most serious incident occurred in the early hours of last Thursday: at 5.30 hours, a group of between 30 and 40 men laid an ambush for four soldiers from the Grupo de Regulares who were heading to their usual surveillance point in the Benzú area.
The soldiers were patrolling in an unarmoured vehicle and, according to a military personnel deployed in Ceuta consulted by this newspaper, "were not carrying weapons or appropriate protective equipment". The group surrounded them and launched a barrage of large stones against the vehicle, which was left practically destroyed. The four soldiers were forced to abandon it and flee on foot while continuing to be pursued.
To call for help they had to ring 112, which activated an emergency operation involving the National Police and the Civil Guard. The operation concluded with 12 arrests, although other members of the group managed to escape. A second Army patrol attended the scene to reinforce the operation. "All of us here are unprotected and abandoned," said the soldier consulted.
A civil guard assaulted off duty
The ambush is not an isolated case. Just days earlier, a civil guard who was off duty was approached in the early hours near the Muelle Cañonero Dato by a man of Moroccan origin who demanded money from him. Upon refusing and identifying himself as an agent of the Armed Institute, five other people joined the assault and began beating him with shoves, punches and kicks.
The warning that he would alert the Police did not stop the assault: the group continued beating him until the agent managed to flee towards the port area. Three suspects were initially detained; subsequently, two adults were remanded in custody for their alleged participation in the facts. They are being investigated for offences including attacking a law enforcement officer, assault and resistance.
Riot police and RRU also under pressure
The groups of the Police Intervention Unit (UIP) —the riot police— and the Prevention and Response Unit (UPR), created in 2002 to act quickly in urban incidents, have also suffered stone throwing and assaults during their interventions in the streets of Ceuta. The officers themselves complain of a lack of personnel to deal with a migrant crisis of this magnitude and the stone throwing, scratching and blows that occur in their operations.
The National Police, responsible for public safety in the city, has a total of 190 riot officers to manage the situation, 40 of whom belong to Ceuta's staff. According to sources from the Force, the reinforcement "falls well short".
"We are abandoned. This is a mess," sums up one of the agents deployed. An officer from the UIP describes the situation in more detail: "We've been under enormous pressure for days, with intense shifts, sometimes lasting more than twelve hours and having to remain permanently alert for any incident. What is most concerning is that assaults against us are becoming increasingly routine."
Organisations demand urgent measures from the Government
Military associations, including the Association of Spanish Troops and Sailors, have condemned the Benzú ambush and have called on the Government for urgent protection measures for personnel deployed in surveillance duties and in support of the security forces.
On the ground, unions and professional organisations are demanding more personnel, better resources and greater protection. Officers must simultaneously face migration pressure, monitor the areas where the newly arrived are concentrated, intervene in episodes of violence and prevent the growing tension between part of the local population and migrants from leading to larger-scale confrontations.
The Government insists that resources are being mobilised to restore normality. However, the image of four soldiers forced to abandon their destroyed vehicle and run to safety — after being surprised by dozens of people — reflects just how much the situation in Ceuta has deteriorated nearly a month after that massive arrival which remains far from being resolved.
Source: El Mundo