At least 40 killed in suicide attacks in Casablanca - 2003-05-17

At least 40 people were killed and nearly 60 injured in a series of suicide bombings on Friday night in Morocco, plunging the city of Casablanca into chaos. Four explosions occurred almost simultaneously in Casablanca, at a Jewish community center, a hotel, the Belgian consulate, and a Spanish cultural center. Prior to this, a bomb exploded near a Jewish cemetery in Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco. The official Moroccan news agency MAP reported that 10 of the dead were the suicide bombers. The agency added that three suspects, all Moroccan, have been arrested in connection with the attacks. Mustafa Sahel, Morocco's Minister of the Interior, described the bombings as the work of suicide terrorists. He also stated that these bombings are indicative of the activities of international terrorist groups. He did not specify a particular group but noted that there are many similarities between these bombings and those that occurred last Monday in Saudi Arabia, which were attributed to al-Qaeda. The suicide attack on the Spanish cultural center was the bloodiest of these bombings. A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt rushed into the middle of a restaurant where about 100 guests were dining. After killing the restaurant's doorman, he detonated the explosive belt. At the Belgian consulate, two guards were killed in an attack by a car filled with explosives outside the building. Other explosive-laden cars detonated at the Jewish cultural center and the Farah Hotel. Almost all of the victims were Moroccan. Earlier this week, a series of suicide attacks in Saudi Arabia killed 34 people, raising alarms about further attacks in the Middle East, East Africa, and Southeast Asia.