Islamic terror reared its ugly head again today in a major way when a cafe' in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh was the target of an al Qaeda suicide bomber - when the dust, blood and guts had settled, 14 people (11 of which were tourists) were dead and over 20 people were wounded. Make note of the fact that this cafe' was hit primarily due to the high traffic of western infidels that frequent it - this is a hallmark of al Qaeda.
From the article at Yahoo News:
A massive terrorist bombing tore through a tourist cafe in the bustling heart of Marrakech's old quarter Thursday, killing at least 11 foreigners and three Moroccans in the country's deadliest attack in eight years.
At least 23 people were wounded in the blast a few minutes before noon in Djemma el-Fna square, one of the top attractions in a country that depends heavily on tourism, Moroccan Interior Minister Taib Chergaoui said.
Government spokesman Khalid Naciri told the AP it was too soon to lay blame for what he called a terrorist attack but he noted that Morocco regularly dismantles cells linked to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and says it has disrupted several plots.
At least eight French citizens were being treated at Marrakech's main Tofail Hospital, along with one Canadian, a British citizen and three Moroccans, emergency room chief Hicham Nejmi said. Others were being treated at a military hospital and a handful in private clinics.
April marks the start of Morocco's tourist season, when visitors gather to watch snake charmers, storytellers, jugglers and local musicians, filling the cafes that ring the edges of the iconic square on the route to the city's major open-air souk, or market.
"There was a huge bang, and lots of smoke went up. There was debris raining down from the sky," honeymooner Andy Birnie, who lives in north London, told The Associated Press by telephone. "Hundreds of people were running in panic."
Let's face it...Morocco is ripe with radical islam...it's ripe with terrorists who usually offer their services outside of this terror appeasing country. Morocco is full of islamists who are waiting to go back and conquer Spain, for pete's sake. The only reason we are seeing a terror attack in Morocco today is because al Qaeda saw a chance to take out a bunch of infidels - a reminder to those of us in the West that we are not welcome in a muslim country.
So, 14 people will be buried in the next week. Some will have to be shipped thousands of miles back to their grieving families. Why? Because Islam must be the only "religion." Because Islam means submission. Submit or die. Those are the choices they give us. Or should it be...submit, die or fight back and win?
Terrorist attack hits cafe in Morocco, 14 dead
MARRAKECH, Morocco – A massive terrorist bombing tore through a tourist cafe in the bustling heart of Marrakech's old quarter Thursday, killing at least 11 foreigners and three Moroccans in the country's deadliest attack in eight years.
At least 23 people were wounded in the blast a few minutes before noon in Djemma el-Fna square, one of the top attractions in a country that depends heavily on tourism, Moroccan Interior Minister Taib Chergaoui said.
Government spokesman Khalid Naciri told the AP it was too soon to lay blame for what he called a terrorist attack but he noted that Morocco regularly dismantles cells linked to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and says it has disrupted several plots.
At least eight French citizens were being treated at Marrakech's main Tofail Hospital, along with one Canadian, a British citizen and three Moroccans, emergency room chief Hicham Nejmi said. Others were being treated at a military hospital and a handful in private clinics.
April marks the start of Morocco's tourist season, when visitors gather to watch snake charmers, storytellers, jugglers and local musicians, filling the cafes that ring the edges of the iconic square on the route to the city's major open-air souk, or market.
"There was a huge bang, and lots of smoke went up. There was debris raining down from the sky," honeymooner Andy Birnie, who lives in north London, told The Associated Press by telephone. "Hundreds of people were running in panic."
The explosion blew much of the facade off the two-story terracotta-colored Argana cafe, leaving awnings dangling. Panicked passersby dragged away bodies and tried to put out flames with fire extinguishers, witnesses told The Associated Press.
"I believe the injured were mostly tourists, judging by what they were wearing," Alexandre Carvalho, a 34-year-old call center worker from southern Portugal, told the AP by telephone.
At least two French nationals were among the casualties, although it was not immediately clear whether they were dead or wounded, judicial officials in the French capital said. President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that the victims included French citizens.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the British ambassador was travelling to Marrakesh, although he gave no immediate confirmation of British casualties.
This former French colony has enjoyed relative stability and political plurality compared to some of its neighbors, but King Mohamed VI holds the final say in all policy, and the country's largest Islamist movement is banned from politics.
The king has pledged constitutional reforms in response to several largely peaceful protests over the past two months that were inspired by popular uprisings that pushed out autocrats in nearby Tunisia and Egypt.
Germany, which said none of its citizens had been hit, urged that the attack "must not lead to the reform process that has been initiated in Morocco being undermined."
Al-Qaida's affiliate in North Africa stages regular attacks and kidnappings in neighboring Algeria. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is holding four Frenchmen hostage after kidnapping them in Niger last year, and recently released new images and audio recordings of their voices.
Morocco, however, has been mostly peaceful since it was hit by five simultaneous terrorist bombings in Casablanca in 2003 that killed 33 people and a dozen bombers linked to the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group, a local militant group also been implicated in the deadly transit attacks in Madrid in March 2004.
In April 2007, two suicide bombers died in attacks by the U.S. consulate in Casablanca, the economic capital.
Moroccan authorities have rounded up thousands of purported terror suspects in recent years and while they "regularly discover terrorist cells ... nothing led us to foresee an act of this magnitude," Naciri said.
"Morocco has an international image of welcome, hospitality and tourism," he told the AP. "An act of this magnitude will leave its mark."
1 comment:
I'm tempted to say "what j3maccabee said." Holger, when I look at a map where Islam is prevalent, it is terrifying. In the long term, I don't know how we win this without God's help - and of course, we cannot.
I knew you were doing radio, but didn't know that you now have your own show. I can't think of anyone any better at hosting than you if you talk like you write.
I will try to listen in and congratulations!
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