Tens of thousands of migrants rushed into Spain's north African territory of Ceuta from neighbouring Morocco in late July 2026. An image circulating online purports to show a Moroccan officer preparing to slam a rock onto a migrant's head. But this is misleading; while a similar scene was filmed by witnesses, the image shared as a depiction of the incident was generated using OpenAI.
"A Spanish journalist caught on photo when a Moroccan Army threw a heavy stone to its citizen going back to Morocco in Cold B|00d (sic)," reads the Facebook post published on August 2, 2026.
The image shows a guard wearing a green uniform and a riot helmet preparing to throw a boulder at a man about to reach the top of a cliff.
Some commenters under the post appeared to believe the image was real.
"The guy will surely going to die (sic)," one user wrote, while another said it was "so saddening".
Others speculated that the image was likely AI-generated.
Similar claims were shared elsewhere in Africa here and here, and in other languages including Czech and French.
Earlier posts with the same image were debunked here and here after they falsely attributed the image to news agency Reuters (archived here and here). A separate X post also claimed that the image shows an Israeli soldier attacking a man in Gaza.
The claims followed scenes in late July when tens of thousands of people, mostly Moroccans, rushed into Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa (archived here).
Spain sent troops to bolster security as the influx of the territory's largest-ever mass crossing drove the European nation into an international crisis (archived here).
Authorities said at least 77 people died on August 5, and that 70,000 of the 72,000 migrants who reached Ceuta had since returned to Morocco (archived here).
While there is an authentic video from the border rush showing a similar scene to the one in the image circulating online, the close-up image itself is a fabrication.
Closer examination of the image revealed visible signs of manipulation typical of AI visuals, including pixelated edges on both individuals and the rock, and distorted hands on the man climbing the cliff.
A Google SynthID watermark, detected using OpenAI's verification tool, confirmed the image was AI-generated.
The tool flags hidden signals in images that show OpenAI tools, such as ChatGPT, were used to create or edit them.
Reverse image searches led to an article by Morocco's Tanja7 news platform on July 31, 2026, featuring a YouTube video showing a man scrambling up a hill and pleading with two guards, one of whom pelts him with a rock (archived here and here)
Filmed from a distance, both the man and the two guards appear to be wearing similar clothes to the figures in the AI image. The rock, however, appears significantly smaller.
According to the article, the footage was filmed in the Moroccan border city of Fnideq, near the Bab Sebta crossing that leads to Ceuta.
A longer Facebook video published on August 3, 2026, by Algerian news platform Algeria Gate, captures the same scene from a different angle (archived here).
The Arabic caption on the post reads: "Video from another angle… A brutal assault by the Makhzen's mercenaries on a Moroccan migrant who tried to escape the hell of #Morocco towards #Ceuta."
The clip shows the altercation escalating as a second security officer joins in, with both striking the man with their batons while he tries to defend himself.
A third officer, holding a plastic riot shield, appears to intervene and help the man up before the video ends.
Further searches traced a third video published by Morocco's news outlet Hespress English on July 31, 2026 (archived here).
"Stone-throwing clashes broke out between security forces and migrants near the Ceuta border crossing as tensions escalated following a mass influx of migrants into the Spanish enclave," reads the caption.
The clip shows a much larger contingent of Moroccan security forces and civilians throwing projectiles at one another.
Hespress later reported that arrests had been made (archived here).
Similar features match across the footage published by Tanja7, Algeria Gate and Hespress, including the rocky terrain and the officers' uniforms.
A distinctly shaped blue street light, identical to those visible in the foreground of this Google Maps photograph of the main promenade in Fnideq, also matches.
Earlier that day, when the clashes were being filmed, AFP photographers near the scene captured thousands of people gathered on top of a hill at sunrise.
Below, the same blue street lights are visible along the road.
Photographer Abdel Majid Bziouat told AFP Fact Check that his photos were taken in the border zone in front of the Ceuta crossing.
"I was positioned between the migrants and the security forces," Bziouat said. "The security forces were firing tear gas grenades and also throwing stones."
At this point, the security forces were further ahead on an opposite boulevard, with a view of the hills where the migrants were located, positioned higher up in the mountains.
"As for the photo showing an officer hitting a migrant with a stone, I do not recall seeing that image in the national press," Bziouat said. "It seems instead to have circulated mainly on social media."
Bziouat also noted that "those who wear blue uniforms are police officers, while those who wear greenish uniforms are auxiliary forces".
AFP Fact Check has debunked several images and videos circulating online about the Ceuta crisis.