CASABLANCA: Two suicide bombers killed themselves in an attack on US diplomatic offices in Morocco’s commercial hub Casablanca on Saturday in the first such targeted bombings in four years, witnesses said. Police arrested a third bomber as he tried to flee the scene of the mid-morning attack on the US cultural centre and the nearby US consulate in an upscale district of the port city, where three suicide bombers blew themselves up four days ago.
“He threw down his explosives belt and ran away. Police chased him and caught him,” said the owner of a coffee shop in the neighbourhood, who declined to be identified.
They also later arrested the leaders of the armed group to which the two suicide bombers and those responsible for Tuesday’s blasts belonged, a security official said.
The official said the two arrested men -- the head and deputy head of the gang -- had given investigators the names of the group’s members and their plans for future attacks.
A police source said only the two bombers were killed.
Witnesses said the first blast happened about six metres from the cultural centre and the second went off about 20 seconds later 60 metres away from the consulate.
The government has said it was on alert for a gang who planned to blow up foreign ships docking at Casablanca's port and hotels in Morocco's main tourist cities.
The Rabat government says the bombers were “home-grown” militants with no links to international terror networks. --Reuters
