MARRAKECH, Morocco - a bomb attack tore through tourist coffee in the lively heart of Marrakech to massive terrorist from the old quarter, killing at least 11 foreign nationals and three Moroccans in deadly attack in the country in eight years.
At least 23 people were injured in Thursday's explosion, strongly tourism a few minutes before noon to Djemma el - Fna square, one of the main attractions in a country which depends on, said Taib Chergaoui Moroccan Interior Minister.
The Government spokesman Khalid Naciri said the PA, it was too early to lay the blame for what he called a terrorist attack, but stressed that the Morocco regularly dismantle cells linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and said that he has disrupted several parcels.
At least eight French citizens have been treated at the hospital Tofail main Marrakech, with a Canadian, a British citizen and three Moroccans, head of the emergency room Hicham Nejmi said. Others were treated at the military hospital and a handful in private clinics.
April marks the start of the tourist of the Morocco season, when visitors gather to watch snake charmers, storytellers, jugglers and local musicians, cafes which the edges of the iconic place on the road to the city of grand souk outdoor, or fill cycle market.
"There was a huge bang, and lots of smoke has increased." There is debris raining down from the sky, "honeymooner Andy Birnie, who lives North of London, told Associated Press by telephone." "Hundreds of people were running in panic.
The explosion made a large part of the facade off the coast coffee Agana two-storey terracotta color, leaving awnings dangling. Panicked bystanders dragged away body and attempted to extinguish the flames with fire extinguishers, said witnesses Associated Press.
"I think that the injured were mainly tourists, judging by what they wore," Alexandre Carvalho, 34-year-old worker call center, South of the Portugal, told the AP by telephone.
At least two French nationals were among the victims, although it was not immediately clear if they were dead or injured, judicial officials in the French capital said. President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that the victims were citizens French.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs of William Hague Britain, said the British Ambassador was travelling in Marrakech, although he gave no immediate confirmation of British victims.
This former French colony enjoys relative stability and political plurality over some of its neighbours, but King Mohamed VI has the final word in all policies, and most important movement of Islamists in the country is prohibited from political life.
The King has promised constitutional reforms in response to several peaceful demonstrations in large part in the two months that were inspired by popular uprisings that pushed the autocrats in nearby Tunisia and Egypt.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that "the United States condemned in the strongest terms terrorists today address innocent people killed and injured in a cafe in Marrakech at the Morocco." Extend us our most sincere condolences for the victims of this cowardly attack and with the people of the Morocco at this difficult time. ?
The United Nations Security Council condemned the attack "in the strongest terms" and expressed his condolences, while that the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon said he was "appalled by the bombings of today" and extended his "deepest sympathies"., according to the statements.
In Germany, who said that none of its citizens had been affected, urged that the attack "should not lead to the reform process which was launched at the Morocco being undermined."
Subsidiary of Al-Qaida in North Africa stage regular attacks and abductions in the neighbouring countries of Algeria. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb organizes four French hostages, after their removal to Niger last year, recently published new pictures and audio recordings of their voice.
Morocco, however, was mainly peaceful since it was hit by five simultaneous terrorist attacks in Casablanca in 2003 that killed 33 people and a dozen bombers linked to the Moroccan combatant group Islamic, a local militant group also involved in the attacks murderers transit in Madrid in March 2004.
In April 2007, two suicide bombers were killed in attacks by the Consulate of the United States, in Casablanca the economic capital.
The Moroccan authorities have rounded up thousands of people suspected of terrorism alleged in recent years and while they "regularly discover terrorist cells... nothing has led us to an act of this magnitude," Naciri said.
"Morocco has its international image of the home, hospitality and tourism," he told the AP. "an act of this magnitude will leave its mark."
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