2007 Casablanca bombings
Encyclopedia
The 2007 Casablanca bombings refer to a series of suicide bombings in March and April 2007 in Casablanca
, Morocco
.
, Morocco
. The attack occurred 3 years after the 2004 Madrid train bombings that targeted the Spanish capital Madrid
. The suicide bombers came from the shanty towns of Sidi Moumen
, a poor suburb of Casablanca.
The bombing occurred at 22 hours local time inside an internet cafe
. Two men were trying to log into an extremist Islamist website before the owner asked them not to. The two men refused and shortly after, the owner closed the door and threatened to call the police. The bombers asked the owner to open the door and to let them go but he refused. One of the two individuals, Abdelfattah Raydi (23 years old) who carried an explosive load dissimulated under his clothing detonated the bomb which killed him and injured his companion and three others including the owner. The companion, identified later as Youssef Khoudri (18 years old) escaped with an eye injury and left for a nearby hospital, where he was captured later by the authorities.
The Director of General Affairs of the Grand Casablanca
, Mokhtar Bekkali Kacemi declared to the media that the bombers "were probably getting ready to commit a criminal act...they wanted to receive instructions via Internet to execute their attacks elsewhere."
According to Assabah
newspaper the real target had been Casablanca's police and paramilitary headquarters as well as some tourist sites.
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
.
March 11
There was a suicide bombing on March 11, 2007, in CasablancaCasablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. The attack occurred 3 years after the 2004 Madrid train bombings that targeted the Spanish capital Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. The suicide bombers came from the shanty towns of Sidi Moumen
Sidi Moumen
Sidi Moumen is a commune in the suburbs of Casablanca, Morocco. Inhabited by 170,000 inhabitants, the commune is infamous for its shanty towns, from where the terrorists of the 2003 and 2007 Casablanca bombings came, mainly from Karian Thoma....
, a poor suburb of Casablanca.
The bombing occurred at 22 hours local time inside an internet cafe
Internet cafe
An Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name...
. Two men were trying to log into an extremist Islamist website before the owner asked them not to. The two men refused and shortly after, the owner closed the door and threatened to call the police. The bombers asked the owner to open the door and to let them go but he refused. One of the two individuals, Abdelfattah Raydi (23 years old) who carried an explosive load dissimulated under his clothing detonated the bomb which killed him and injured his companion and three others including the owner. The companion, identified later as Youssef Khoudri (18 years old) escaped with an eye injury and left for a nearby hospital, where he was captured later by the authorities.
The Director of General Affairs of the Grand Casablanca
Grand Casablanca
Grand Casablanca is one of sixteen administrative regions of Morocco. Located in coastal north western Morocco, it is the most densely populated region and covers an area of 1,615 km.² The population at the 2010 census was 7,500,000...
, Mokhtar Bekkali Kacemi declared to the media that the bombers "were probably getting ready to commit a criminal act...they wanted to receive instructions via Internet to execute their attacks elsewhere."
According to Assabah
Assabah
Assabah is a daily arabophone Moroccan newspaper. It is a sister publication of L'Economiste....
newspaper the real target had been Casablanca's police and paramilitary headquarters as well as some tourist sites.
April 10
A major security operation against suspected Islamist militants (following the March bombing) resulted in three suspected suicide bombers blowing themselves up and a fourth being shot dead by police as he tried to detonate his device. One police officer died in one of the explosions. One of the three suspected militants who blew themselves up during a police raid in Morocco is the brother of an internet cafe bomber, officials say.April 14
An additional two suicide bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca on April 14. One woman passer-by was injured in the blasts, which happened near the US consulate and its cultural centre.Sentencing
In October 2008, Morocco sentenced 45 people to 2 to 30 years in prison for their roles in a plot to attack targets in Casablanca, a plot related to the 2007 bombings.External links
- Man Blows Himself Up in Internet Cafe - The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Bombers had targeted Casablanca landmarks: papers - Washington Post