Suicide bombers explode

last updated 8 January 2015

Casablanca, Morocco

Two suspected terrorists blew themselves up this week, as police were closing in on them in a Casablanca slum. Police shot a third suspect to death just before he could detonate his bomb belt. The men were believed to be part of an Islamist terrorist group that first struck Morocco in 2003, in a wave of suicide bombings that killed 13 bombers and 32 others. Last month, a bomber attacked an Internet cafe in Casablanca, killing himself and four others. Police found the three suspects this week while investigating that bombing. At least one of the men was among some 2,000 people arrested in 2003 and released under a royal pardon. The Islamists say they are punishing Morocco for cooperating with the U.S. in its so-called war on terror.