2003 Casablanca bombings
Part of the Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present)
The Boulevard de Paris, the site of the bombings, pictured in 2005
LocationCasablanca, Morocco
Date16 May 2003 (2003-05-16)
TargetWestern, gambling , and Jewish targets
Attack type
Suicide attack
Deaths45 (includes 12 terrorists)[1]
InjuredMore than 100
PerpetratorsSalafia Jihadia

The 2003 Casablanca bombings were a series of suicide bombings on May 16, 2003, in Casablanca, Morocco. The attacks were the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country's history.[2] Forty-five people were killed in the attacks (33 victims and 12 suicide bombers). The suicide bombers came from the shanty towns of Sidi Moumen, a poor suburb of Casablanca. That same year, Adil Charkaoui, a Casablanca-based resident who was issued a Security Certificate in Montreal, Canada, was charged with supporting terrorism, and rumours allege he may have played a financial role in the bombings.[3][4]

Bombings

The 14 bombers, most of whom were between 20 and 23 years old, bombed four places on the night of May 16, 2003. In the deadliest attack, bombers wearing explosives knifed a guard at the "Casa de España" restaurant, a Spanish-owned eatery in the city. They blew themselves up inside the building, killing 20 people, many of them Muslims dining and playing bingo.[5][6]

The five-star Hotel Farah was bombed next, killing a guard and a porter. Another bomber killed three passersby as he attempted to bomb a Jewish cemetery. He was 150 yards (140 m) away from the cemetery and likely lost, so he blew up by a fountain. Two additional bombers attacked a Jewish community center, but killed no one because the building was closed and empty. It would have been packed the next day.[7][8]

Another bomber attacked a Jewish-owned Italian restaurant, and another blew up near the Belgian consulate which is located meters away from the restaurant, killing two police officers.[9][10]

In all, 33 civilians and 2 police officers were killed, along with 12 bombers.[11] Two bombers were arrested before they could carry out attacks. More than 100 people were injured; 97 of them were Muslims. Eight of the dead were Europeans and the rest were Moroccan.[12]

Deaths by nationality
Country Number
 Morocco 25
 Spain 4[13]
 France 3
 Italy 1

Response

A large demonstration was organized through the streets of Casablanca. Tens of thousands marched, carrying banners such as "Say No to Terrorism". They shouted "Down with Hate" and "United against Terrorism".

Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco, toured the bombing sites and was cheered by crowds of people. Moroccan authorities said in May 2004 that they had arrested 2,000 people in connection with the attacks, and began to put them on trial.[14]

World leaders condemned the attacks, coming four days after the Riyadh compound bombings. In response to that attack and the Casablanca attacks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security raised the terror threat level to Orange.[15]

Salafia Jihadia, an offshoot of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group and believed to have al-Qaeda links, is suspected of sending out the bombers. On March 19, 2004, Belgian police arrested a suspect wanted by the Moroccan government in connection with the bombings.[16] In December 2004, a man named Hasan al-Haski, charged in the 2004 Madrid bombings, was questioned over his links to the Casablanca bombings and was suspected to have helped plan them.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was believed to have ordered the bombings. He was killed in an airstrike on June 7, 2006.[17][18]

A number of Muslims were subsequently convicted of bombings. In April 2008 nine of the prisoners tunneled their way out of prison. Abderrahim Mahtade, who represents a prisoners’ advocacy group, said the fugitives had escaped from the Kenitra prison, north of Rabat, after dawn prayers. He said one of the nine had been sentenced to death, six to life imprisonment and two to 20 years.[19]

Saad bin Laden was suspected of direct involvement in the bombings despite being under house arrest in Iran.[20][21][22] He escaped house arrest in 2008 and was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan in 2009.[23]

Hassan al-Kattani, having been convicted of inspiring the attacks in 2003, was pardoned in 2011 after several hunger strikes and criticisms from human rights groups who alleged that Kattani was innocent.[24][25] Omar al-Haddouchi was also jailed for inspiring the bombings and pardoned in 2011.[26][27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "9 Imprisoned For Casablanca Blasts Escape". The New York Times. Agence France-Presse. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  2. ↑ "Casablanca bombing suspect arrested by German police". BBC News. 2012-10-30. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  3. ↑ Patriquin, Martin (2015-05-27). "Adil Charkaoui: The angriest man in Montreal". Macleans.ca. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  4. ↑ "Adil Charkaoui pleads not guilty to assault after alleged incident at school - Montreal | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  5. ↑ Sciolino, Elaine (2003-05-18). "AFTEREFFECTS: CASABLANCA; OFFICIALS SUSPECT GLOBAL TERROR TIE IN MOROCCO BLASTS". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  6. ↑ Bright, Martin; Harris, Paul; Bouzerda, Ali (2003-05-18). "Horror in Casablanca as al-Qaeda toll hits 41". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  7. ↑ "Analysis: May 16, 2003 Suicide Bombings in Casablanca, Morocco". www.cpt-mi.org. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007.
  8. ↑ Jehl, Douglas (2003-05-17). "AFTEREFFECTS: MOROCCO; Suicide Bombs Kill at Least 14 In Casablanca". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  9. ↑ "Blasts kill at least 20 in Morocco The car bombs explode outside the Belgian consulate and near other Western targets". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  10. ↑ "Terror blasts rock Casablanca". 2003-05-17. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  11. ↑ "Casablanca bomb suspect held by Belgian police". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  12. ↑ Staff writer (2003-05-18). "Al Qaeda May Be Widening War of Terror". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  13. ↑ Jordán, Javier; Horsburgh, Nicola (2006). "Spain and Islamist Terrorism: Analysis of the Threat and Response 1995–2005". Mediterranean Politics. 11 (2): 209–229. doi:10.1080/13629390600682933. S2CID 145749797.
  14. ↑ Sciolino, Elaine (2003-05-27). "At a Traumatic Moment, Morocco's King Is Mute". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  15. ↑ "CNN.com - United States goes on orange alert - May. 20, 2003". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  16. ↑ "washingtonpost.com: Madrid Probe Turns to Islamic Cell in Morocco". The Washington Post. 21 August 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020.
  17. ↑ "Report: 5 others Moroccans sought in Spain bombing". USA Today. 16 March 2004.
  18. ↑ Filkins, Dexter; Burns, John F. (11 June 2006). "At Site of Attack on Zarqawi, All That's Left Are Questions". The New York Times.
  19. ↑ "Morocco: 9 Imprisoned for Casablanca Blasts Escape". The New York Times. Agence France-Presse. 8 April 2008.
  20. ↑ Farah, Douglas; Priest, Dana (14 October 2003). "Bin Laden Son Plays Key Role in Al Qaeda". The Washington Post.
  21. ↑ "Bin Laden's Family Under House Arrest in Iran « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT". Archived from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
  22. ↑ "Osama Bin Laden's Family Seek Asylum « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT". Archived from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
  23. ↑ "Bin Laden son 'probably killed'". BBC News. 23 July 2009.
  24. ↑ Morocco king pardons jailed Islamist leaders at Morocco World News. Reuters reporting in Rabat, February 5, 2012.
  25. ↑ Mohamed Saadouni, Morocco pursues salafist reconciliation for Magharebia. May 18, 2012.
  26. ↑ "The Islamic State Goes After Morocco's Islamists". The Washington Institute. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  27. ↑ Center, Combating Terrorism (2013-05-23). "Morocco's Stability in the Wake of the Arab Spring". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
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