Casablanca, May 17
Terrorists set off a string of deadly blasts in the heart of Casablanca, killing dozens and damaging a Jewish community centre and two western targets. A government official said the death toll was at least 40.The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there were probably foreigners among the victims in the attack just after 2200 GMT (0330 IST). He also said that investigations had shown that all attacks were suicide bombings, and that car bombs had not been used.
The Moroccan government did not directly implicate Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida network in the nearly simultaneous explosions, but the attack confirmed fears that terrorists have plans to strike lightly defended sites.
Government officials had originally reported that at least three of the explosions were from car bombs, and a fourth was detonated by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt in a Spanish restaurant. Residents had reported hearing a fifth explosion.
At least 60 persons were injured. The blasts damaged a Jewish community centre and cemetery, the Belgian consulate, a Spanish restaurant and a hotel.
Casablanca, Morocco’s economic centre, was thrown into chaos. Police and rescue workers rushed to the sites to care for dazed, blood-splattered survivors. The shattered bodies of victims were scattered on the wreckage-strewn streets.
“They were terrorists, suicide bombers,” Interior Minister Mustapha Sahel told reporters. “These are the well-known signatures of international terrorists.”
Suicide bombers cut the throat of the porter as they charged into an exclusive Spanish club in Casablanca, causing havoc as around 100 patrons enjoyed what should have been a pleasant Friday night out.
Casa de Espana club president Rafael Bermudez, still in shock and wearing a blood-stained shirt, said, ‘’I heard two blasts and thought they were short-circuits.’’
Witnesses said at least one attacker blew himself up with grenades strapped to his belt.
It was not immediately known how many died at the club, although witnesses believed it suffered the highest toll. Rescue workers left the building carrying black plastic bags which appeared to contain parts of dismembered bodies.
In another part of the city, residents said a bomber blew up himself and three young men passing by about 100 metres from the main gate of the old Jewish cemetery in a populous district.
Paris: World governments today condemned the string of bomb blasts that killed 40 people in Casablanca and vowed the attacks would not derail international efforts against terror.
US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz blamed the bombings on “terrorists” who, he said, wanted to block progress in the Arab world, while Russia said the attacks bore the “signature” of Al-Qaida.
In Germany, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer blasted the criminal terrorist attacks.
“The authors and their accomplices should be found and judged before a tribunal,” Fischer said in a statement.
AP, Reuters
