Solved case · 2007
The short answer
A series of suicide bombings struck Casablanca, Morocco, in March and April 2007, killing one police officer and several bombers, and leading to dozens of convictions in a related plot.
No one's coverage is attached to this file yet.
Know great coverage of this case?
A documentary, a podcast episode, a careful long-form video. Suggest it and an editor will review it before it appears here.
Suggest coverage for 2007 Casablanca BombingsIn March and April 2007, Casablanca, Morocco, was the site of a series of suicide bombings linked to a broader Islamist militant plot targeting the city.
On March 11, 2007, a suicide bombing occurred inside an internet cafe in Casablanca. According to reporting, two men had been attempting to log into an extremist Islamist website when the cafe owner asked them to stop and later threatened to call police after they refused to leave. One of the two men, 23-year-old Abdelfattah Raydi, detonated an explosive device hidden under his clothing, killing himself and injuring his companion and three others, including the cafe owner. His companion, later identified as 18-year-old Youssef Khoudri, fled with an eye injury to a nearby hospital, where he was subsequently taken into custody by authorities. A local official, Mokhtar Bekkali Kacemi, Director of General Affairs of the Grand Casablanca, told media that the men were likely preparing for a separate attack and had sought online instructions to carry it out elsewhere. Moroccan newspaper Assabah reported that the intended targets had included Casablanca's police and paramilitary headquarters as well as tourist sites.
Following the March bombing, Moroccan authorities launched a major security operation against suspected Islamist militants. On April 10, 2007, this operation resulted in three suspected suicide bombers detonating their devices and a fourth being shot dead by police as he attempted to detonate his own device. One police officer was killed in one of the explosions. Officials stated that one of the three militants who died by self-detonation during the raid was the brother of the internet cafe bomber from the March attack.
A further two suicide bombings occurred on April 14, 2007, in Casablanca, near the United States consulate and its cultural centre. One female passer-by was injured in these blasts.
In October 2008, Morocco sentenced 45 people to prison terms ranging from 2 to 30 years for their roles in a plot to attack targets in Casablanca that was connected to the 2007 bombings.
Suicide bombing inside an internet cafe in Casablanca; bomber Abdelfattah Raydi dies, injuring his companion Youssef Khoudri and three others.
Security operation results in three suspected suicide bombers self-detonating and a fourth shot dead by police; one police officer killed.
Two additional suicide bombers detonate near the US consulate and cultural centre in Casablanca; one passer-by injured.
Morocco sentences 45 people to prison terms of 2 to 30 years for roles in a related plot to attack Casablanca targets.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Convicted in March 2008 by a youth court in Salé of terrorism-related offenses connected to the 2007 Casablanca bombings, including forming a criminal gang and helping make explosives; sentenced to 15 years in prison.[3]
Identified as the 23-year-old suicide bomber who detonated an explosive device inside a Casablanca internet cafe on 11 March 2007; died in the blast, so was never prosecuted.[3]
From the record
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
Are you family of someone named in this file? Corrections and removal requests from victims’ families are prioritized.
Credit: Le360CC BY 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenCasablanca, Morocco · 2000s
On May 16, 2003, twelve suicide bombers linked to the Salafia Jihadia network detonated bombs at five sites in Casablanca, Morocco, killing 33 victims and two police officers along with 12 bombers, in the deadliest terrorist attack in Morocco's history.
SOLVEDListenSalé, Morocco
In September 1260, Castilian forces under King Alfonso X raided the Moroccan city of Salé, killing residents during Eid al-Fitr celebrations and taking roughly 3,000 people captive as slaves before Marinid troops retook the city two weeks later.
Shanksville, Somerset County, Pennsylvania · 2001
On September 11, 2001, four hijackers affiliated with al-Qaeda took control of United Airlines Flight 93 en route from Newark to San Francisco, intending to crash it into a federal government building in Washington, D.C. After learning by phone of the day's other attacks, passengers and crew fought back, and the aircraft crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people aboard.
Credit: nrkbetaCC BY-SA 2.0SourceSOLVEDListenOslo and Utøya, Norway · 2011
On 22 July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik detonated a car bomb in Oslo's government quarter, killing 8, then carried out a mass shooting at a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer camp on the island of Utøya, killing 69. He was convicted in 2012 and sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention, Norway's maximum sentence.
Credit: Oliver MarkCC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenLiaquat National Bagh, Rawalpindi, Pakistan · 2007
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi following a shooting and suicide bombing after a political rally, an attack that also killed 23 other people. A UN inquiry found her security had been fatally insufficient and the crime scene mishandled; two police officers were later convicted, five Taliban-linked suspects were acquitted, and Pervez Musharraf was indicted but declared a fugitive before being separately sentenced in absentia on unrelated treason charges.
SOLVEDListenFoothills of Mount Toubkal near Imlil, Atlas Mountains, Morocco · 2018
Two backpackers, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen (Denmark) and Maren Ueland (Norway), were found decapitated near Imlil in Morocco's Atlas Mountains on 17 December 2018 in an attack Moroccan authorities described as terrorism linked to ISIS. Four men were sentenced to death and 19 others received prison terms; two of the four death-sentenced men have since died by suicide in custody.
