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Two new terror blasts in Africa
Sara Hashash
London
Times
Sunday April 15, 2007
TWO bombers blew themselves up near an American cultural centre
in Casablanca yesterday, five days after three similar suicide blasts
in the city, sparking fears of a surge in Al-Qaeda terror in north
Africa.
“Only the two bombers were killed,” said a witness.
The first bomb went off outside the cultural centre and the second
60 yards down the street, close to the US consulate in the heart
of Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city.
Earlier last week neighbouring Algeria had been targeted in two
bombings that killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 160.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, North Africa’s most dangerous
terrorist group, claimed responsibility for both sets of attacks.
“There is no doubt they aimed at the US targets,” said
a police source in Rabat, the Moroccan capital. “They made
that statement with their own bodies.” They could not have
got closer to the American buildings because of their security fortifications,
he added.
Police arrested a third man as he tried to escape. He was also wearing
an explosive jacket.
The Moroccan government said the bombers were “home-grown”
terrorists with no links to international networks. But terrorism
experts suspect that they are aligned to the Al-Qaeda group. Officials
in Rabat said the bombers were connected to a ring that was dismantled
last month. Among its members were would-be suicide bombers who
planned to blow up foreign ships docking in Casablanca and to target
hotels in Morocco’s main tourist cities.
American intelligence officials believe there are growing links
between terrorist organisations in north Africa. The Algerian-based
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was originally called the Salafist
Group for Preaching and Combat. It was created in 1998 and aligned
itself with Osama Bin Laden’s network last year.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda’s deputy leader, publicly anointed
the group as its representative in north Africa on the fifth anniversary
of the September 11 attacks. It changed its name in January.
Concern is mounting among western intelligence agencies that the
new grouping, which is estimated to have a core of several hundred
potential terrorists, is showing signs of becoming a potent force.
Rear Admiral William McRaven, the head of the US Special Operations
Command Europe, said last month: “The concern is that Al-Qaeda
in the Islamic Maghreb want their reach to be larger than it is
now. They are already somewhat regional and growing.”
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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