Protests in Morocco turned deadly Wednesday when police opened fire in Leqliaa, killing at least two people and wounding several others, as demonstrators pressed for reforms amid growing anger over poor public services and government spending.

What happened: The violence erupted on the fifth day of nationwide protests in the southern town of Leqliaa, about 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Rabat, when security forces fired on a crowd that local police said attempted to storm a police station.

“Royal Gendarmerie personnel in Leqliaa were forced to use their service weapons on Wednesday evening in self-defense to repel an attack and raid on a Royal Gendarmerie station. The attackers attempted to seize ammunition, equipment and service weapons from the gendarmerie personnel,” Morocco’s state news agency MAP cited local authorities as saying.

According to the authorities, police initially threw tear gas at protesters who were throwing stones at officers, but were later overrun by some individuals armed with knives, claiming they stormed the police station and seized a car and four motorcycles belonging to the Royal Gendarmerie and set them on fire.