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Spain: Five die in enclave assaultBy CNN Madrid Bureau Chief Al Goodman  Two men outside the enclave of Ceuta, which migrants tried to break into on Thursday RELATEDYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSMADRID, Spain (CNN) -- Five sub-Saharan Africans have been killed and 50 others wounded as they and hundreds of others scaled tall fences in a bid to enter a Spanish enclave on Morocco's northern coast, officials said. Three of them died on Moroccan territory and two others died in Spanish territory, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told reporters on Thursday. Fernandez de la Vega was speaking in the city of Seville at the Spanish-Moroccan summit that was planned before the tragedy and was focusing attention on the immigration problem. Earlier Thursday, Jeronimo Nieto, Madrid's chief delegate in Ceuta -- a tiny historical Spanish enclave near the Strait of Gibraltar -- told SER Radio the two who died on Spanish territory suffered their fatal wounds either while scaling the fence topped with barbed wire or from blows that could have come from trampling and stampeding. Nieto said some of the would-be immigrants were turned back by Spanish forces and had to remain on Moroccan soil on the other side of the fence. It was estimated that hundreds were involved in Thursday's immigration attempt. The assault, which began about 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT), now adds Ceuta to the problems that Spain's other enclave of Melilla, further east on Morocco's coast, has been facing for weeks. "These are authentic avalanches," Nieto told SER Radio. "They're trying to come in groups of 50 to 100 people, so it's a new form (of assault) and we have to react in a new way." On two successive nights earlier this week, hundreds of Africans using makeshift ladders moved to scale en masse the fence in Melilla, with many getting through despite efforts by beefed up Spanish security forces to repel them and keep them on Moroccan soil. In Melilla, parts of the 10 km long (6.2 mile) perimeter fence have been raised to a height of six meters (19.2 feet) while work continues on the remaining parts, which are just three meters tall. Reports say the Africans aim for the lower parts, before the work is completed on the whole fence. In Ceuta, Nieto pledged a full investigation into the deaths of the Africans, and also said he would seek immediate security reinforcements. Melilla has already received reinforcements. Nieto also said the fence there would be made taller, where necessary. The Africans apparently see the risky effort to scale the fence as literally getting a foot into Europe. The two Spanish enclaves, whose combined population is less than 170,000, are recognized by Spain -- but not by Morocco -- as being a part of Spain. Media reports in Spain say that while Spain can often quickly repatriate illegal immigrants from Morocco or Algeria, the situation of the sub-Saharan Africans is more difficult, because has relatively few repatriation agreements with their countries of origin. Many of these illegal immigrants are identified, but then released to the streets. In Melilla, an immigrant center is reportedly overflowing, with some forced to sleep in tents outside on the grounds of the center. A top official of the Interior Ministry on Wednesday was in Parliament to explain the situation in Melilla. That was before the attention shifted to Ceuta. The assault on Ceuta came just hours before Spain and Morocco began a summit in Spain's southern city of Seville. Illegal immigration is sure to be on the agenda. 
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