Doh! Moroccan Militants "Blow" Seven "Martyrs" for a Grand Effect of Zero

http://www.reuters.com/article/world...47115120070414

This is actually rather encouraging. An excerpt:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Two suicide bombers killed themselves in an attack on U.S. 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 U.S. cultural centre and the nearby U.S. 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 neighborhood, 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 senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters 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.

Analysts say the recent series of suicide bombings in Morocco and twin blasts that killed 33 in Algiers on Wednesday signal a sharp expansion in the threat from armed groups seeking to establish Islamic rule in north Africa.

On Tuesday three suicide bombers killed themselves in a poor neighborhood of Casablanca after police raided a safe house and shot dead a fourth bomber, setting off their explosives so as not to be taken alive by police who were on their tail.

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Doh! Moroccan Militants "Blow" Seven "Martyrs" for a Grand Effect of Zero

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Well you woud think the effect on the dead policeman and his familly would be a bit more than zero :dizzy2:

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This is actually rather encouraging.

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Its encouraging that the police were able to identify linked suspects after the internet cafe murders .
But it ain't encoraging that after a 3 year lull they are back to trying to blow things up , its gonna have a big affect on tourism income again .

The good news is that this attempt largely failed.

The bad news is that the Maghreb has turned into the latest Islamicist battleground (again one should say). Local terrorists joined the worldwide McQaida franchise last year. So far, it looks like they made good on their promise to renew terrorising the local governments and to attack western targets. Oh well, time to brace ourselves and prepare for a wave of attacks. In the span of one week there was one attack in Tunisia that was twarthed, a large one that succeeded in Algiers, and now this rather amateurish one in morocco.

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Introduction
Reports from North Africa point to a recent resurgence in terrorist activity by several local Islamist movements, the most prominent of which is the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). An Algeria-based Sunni group that recently renamed itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the organization has taken responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks in the region, declared its intention to attack Western targets, and sent a squad of jihadis to Iraq. Experts believe these actions suggest widening ambitions within the group’s leadership, now pursuing a more global, sophisticated and better-financed direction.

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Link

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In a videotape released by Al Qaeda Sept. 11, 2006, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri announced that "the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat has joined the Al Qaeda organization ... may this be a bone in the throat of American and French crusaders, and their allies, and sow fear in the hearts of French traitors and sons of apostates."

Born out of Algeria's civil war, which began in 1992 when the army overturned an Islamist electoral victory, the GSPC has long expressed a willingness to join Mr. bin Laden. But not until now has Al Qaeda officially acknowledged a merger. Indeed, this alliance underlines the regional, rather than Algerian, focus of GSPC.

This internationalization, and the GSPC's attempts to rally militants in surrounding countries, has long worried the US. In 2002, the Pentagon announced the Pan-Sahel Initiative, assigning US military advisers to train and equip the militaries of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and Chad. Also involved are Algeria and Morocco, though both governments deny reports of US forces stationed within their countries.

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Side note:

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Originally Posted by Louis' linked article

... assigning US military advisers to train and equip the militaries of Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and Chad. Also involved are Algeria and Morocco, though both governments deny reports of US forces stationed within their countries.

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The US has often used "Temporary Duty" (TDY) orders vs Official Permanent Change-of-Station (PCS) orders to effect the placement of its military in hot-spots, without the requirement to officially announce it (or report it to Congress). Those TDY Orders fund travel and sustainment costs, and are good for up to 180 days. Typically, those soldiers return to home-base near day #179, spend a week debriefing, then go back if necessary.

This exercise gives the host country 'plausible deniability' ("There are no US soldiers stationed here!" (Under breath: "OK there are a few visiting.")).

Side-side note: Louis: "McQaeda franchise" :thumbsup: for the word coinage. :)

To topic: the first insurgent attacks in Iraq were quite amatuerish also; they learn/adapt quickly though, we must admit.