CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Hundreds of migrants trying to reach the Spanish exclave of Ceuta by land and sea were arrested by Moroccan security forces, Moroccan state television reported Sunday, as authorities tightened security along the border following calls for a new mass crossing.
Moroccan state broadcaster Medi 1 TV said 294 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were arrested Saturday while attempting to enter Ceuta. Authorities also arrested 61 Moroccans accused of facilitating the migration attempts, the broadcaster reported.
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Morocco security forces, bottom left, patrol the Spanish-Moroccan border seen from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)
Morocco security forces patrol near the Spanish-Moroccan border seen from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)
Migrants are detained by Moroccan security forces after attempting to cross from the border town of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)
Moroccan security forces stand guard as migrants gather on a hill attempting to cross from the border town of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)
Migrants gather on a hill as they attempt crossing from the border town of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)
The attempted crossings followed a surge in social media posts calling on migrants to make their way to Ceuta, a Spanish city on Morocco’s northern coast. In response, Moroccan and Spanish authorities beefed up security presence and limited movement toward the area.
The latest attempt comes two weeks after tens of thousands of would-be migrants, driven by poverty and misinformation, rushed toward Ceuta in one of the deadliest migration crises to hit the region. At least 90 people died on both sides of the border, according to official numbers, while human rights groups reported higher figures.
The interior ministry did not respond to AP’s questions about the latest arrests or the number of security personnel deployed around the border to prevent a new migration push.
A senior Moroccan diplomat previously said that more than 20,000 Moroccan security personnel are deployed along the border with Ceuta each day, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. The diplomat was not authorized to be publicly named speaking about the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Thousands of migrants from across Africa and beyond travel to Morocco each year, fleeing conflict, poverty and instability and seeking a route into Europe. Many attempt to reach Ceuta or Melilla, another Spanish exclave on Morocco’s northern coast, hoping eventually to make their way to mainland Spain and better economic opportunities.
Morocco security forces, bottom left, patrol the Spanish-Moroccan border seen from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)
Morocco security forces patrol near the Spanish-Moroccan border seen from the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Sempere)
Migrants are detained by Moroccan security forces after attempting to cross from the border town of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)
Moroccan security forces stand guard as migrants gather on a hill attempting to cross from the border town of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)
Migrants gather on a hill as they attempt crossing from the border town of Fnideq to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026. (AP Photo)
BAELEN, Belgium (AP) — Firefighters battled a massive wildfire that scorched a nature reserve in eastern Belgium and another on a Greek island near Athens where two people were killed on Sunday as hot and dry conditions fueled fires across parts of Europe.
A blaze in eastern Belgium burned about 30 square kilometers (12 square miles) in the High Fens, a large nature reserve, in one of the country’s worst wildfires in recent history.
About 600 residents in the nearby municipalities of Waimes and Bütgenbach, in Liège province near the German border, were told to evacuate on Saturday as winds shifted and smoke spread through the area. Authorities also advised tourists to leave, while a nearby gymnasium was opened to receive evacuees.
Liège provincial governor Hervé Jamar said in a statement Sunday that more than 250 emergency personnel have been deployed, including over 100 Belgian and German firefighters, as well as police and military officers and civil protection staff. Firefighting helicopters operated by Belgium’s federal police and the Netherlands also helped.
In Greece, two people were killed in a wildfire Sunday on the island of Salamina, west of Athens, Greek firefighters said.
The bodies were recovered in the village of Peristeria, where strong winds fueled the rapidly spreading blaze. A second blaze was reported in the Selini area. Firefighting and coast guard vessels evacuated some 500 beachgoers in the area.
Some 260 firefighters were responding to the blazes, including 15 ground teams, 10 aircraft and eight helicopters.
The island had been placed at high wildfire risk on Sunday, with near gale-force winds. “These conditions enabled the fire to quickly reach dangerous proportions and spread rapidly within seven minutes toward nearby residential areas,” said Fire Brigadier General Vasileios Vathrakogiannis.
The blaze now torching Belgium has far surpassed a 2011 fire that burned nearly 14 square kilometers (5.4 square miles) in the same area and was previously the country's largest wildfire on record, according to data from the European Forest Fire Information System.
Nicolas Yernaux, a spokesperson for the Public Service of Wallonia, said conditions were much worse this time. “We’re dealing with something much deeper because we have very dry soil,” he said.
René Dahmen, chief engineer at the Department of Nature and Forest, said the fire was still spreading Sunday in an area that was difficult for crews to reach.
“On the eastern flank, there’s a line at least a kilometer long where the fire is slowly advancing toward a municipal forest,” Dahmen said. “That’s the first priority now.”
Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said on X firefighters managed to keep the fire from spreading towards the west and toward the German town of Monschau.
In Germany, local authorities warned Sunday that the fire was about 1.5 kilometers (just under a mile) from the border.
Some farmers from both Belgium and Germany filled up tanker trucks, pumping water from a nearby lake before heading toward the fire area to help firefighters.
Belgium activated the European Union’s civil protection mechanism to receive assistance from other countries, EU Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, who is in charge of crisis management, said on X.
“The High Fens are burning. Belgium is not facing it alone,” Lahbib said. Sweden sent two water-bombing aircraft, while three helicopters — two from the Netherlands and one from the Czech Republic — were also being deployed.
The fire follows weeks of unusually hot and dry weather. The High Fens’ mix of heathland and peat bogs has complicated efforts to contain the flames.
Belgium was hit by another spell of intense heat this week, with temperatures reaching about 37 C (98.6 F) in parts of the country Friday.
In France, firefighters battling a wildfire in a pine forest in the southwestern Landes region faced no major flare-ups overnight, Landes Prefect Gilles Clavreul said. Authorities estimated the total area burned at 17 square kilometers (6.6 square miles), while about 650 people had been evacuated from their homes.
It was the third major wildfire in the vast pine forests of southwestern France this summer, following two others in late July. A massive wildfire in the neighboring Gironde department burned about 420 square kilometers (162 square miles) and forced the evacuation of about 220,000 people as it spread toward the Atlantic coast and the Bordeaux area.
In the U.K., emergency crews were fighting 14 wildfires in South Wales with the support of military personnel. Authorities warned that although the heat wave is easing, drought conditions mean the risk of wildfires remains high.
Fires gutted more than a dozen homes in the West Midlands in central England this week as officials recorded the hottest day of the year on Thursday, when temperatures reached 38.1 C (100.6 F).
In Germany, firefighters made significant progress against a wildfire in the Hürtgen Forest, allowing about 2,000 evacuated residents of Gey to return home Saturday. Officials said Sunday there were no open flames and crews had established a cleared cordon around the affected area to prevent the fire from spreading.
Corbet reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Sylvia Hui in London, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Colleen Barry in Milan, Italy, contributed to this report.
A firefighter walks through a burned area as flames engulf a house during a wildfire on the island of Salamina, west of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
Flames burn in a house during a wildfire on the island of Salamina, west of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
A helicopter drops water on a wildfire on the island of Salamina, west of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
Firefighters battle a wildfire on the island of Salamina, west of Athens, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)
Fire department emergency vehicles stand on a street near an operations center to fight wildfires at the Hautes Fagnes near Eupen, in Belgium, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)
Fire department emergency vehicles stand on a street near the operations center to fight wildfires at the Hautes Fagnes near Eupen in Belgium, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)
Three firefighters stand near an emergency car after they return from fighting wildfires at the Hautes Fagnes near Eupen in Belgium, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Valentin Bianchi)
Smoke from a massive wildfire in Belgium's Hohes Venn region is seen from Germany, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (Christoph Reichwein/dpa via AP)
Smoke from a massive wildfire in Belgium's Hohes Venn region is seen from Germany, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. (Christoph Reichwein/dpa via AP)
