Over 200 immigrants succeed in forcing their way into Spanish enclave of Melilla

MADRID, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Over 200 sub-Saharan immigrants forced their way into the Spanish north-African of Melilla following a mass assault on the frontier fence by a group of around 300, according to the Spanish Government Delegate on Sunday.

The incident happened at around 15:40 hours on Saturday afternoon in a zone to the north of the city and ended up with five people injured, one of whom was a Spanish Civil Guard, who was hit by a bottle.

According to Delegate, Abdelmalik El Barkani, 209 Africans were able to make their way to the Temporary Immigration Residency (CETI) in the city.

Four of the immigrants required medical assistance in the Hospital Comarcal in Melilla and were treated for cuts and bruises.

El Barkani gave his support to security forces saying, "this kind of illegal immigration, which uses force and violence to force its way through frontier barriers which are not used for the regular transit of people, is not admissible and shows the need for the European Union to have a common immigration policy. Enditem