ErickS 08/16/07
Jihadists Continue to Advance in North Africa
Back in June, I produced a story for the 700 Club (Watch here) detailing the growth of Al-Qaeda in North Africa's Islamic Maghreb.
It's an area stretching from Libya to Mauritania where large numbers of veterans of the Iraq jihad are returning home to employ their newfound "skills."
Al-Qaeda has a branch there right now that's growing in strength and numbers. Which means you can probably expect to see more attacks like this in the coming months:
A suspected radical Islamist tried to blow up himself near a bus carrying tourists in the Moroccan city of Meknes on Monday but he detonated the gas cylinder he was carrying before reaching it, police sources said.
"The gas cylinder exploded some metres (yards) from the bus and badly injured the attacker," said one police source.
It's an area stretching from Libya to Mauritania where large numbers of veterans of the Iraq jihad are returning home to employ their newfound "skills."
Al-Qaeda has a branch there right now that's growing in strength and numbers. Which means you can probably expect to see more attacks like this in the coming months:
A suspected radical Islamist tried to blow up himself near a bus carrying tourists in the Moroccan city of Meknes on Monday but he detonated the gas cylinder he was carrying before reaching it, police sources said.
"The gas cylinder exploded some metres (yards) from the bus and badly injured the attacker," said one police source.
Another source said authorities suspected the bomber was a member of the radical Islamist Jihadia group.
Police sources said the failed suicide attack came after anti-terrorism police stepped up a crackdown on radical Islamists in the past six months, arresting scores of suspected jihadists.
"That crackdown move put terrorists on the defensive and destabilised their plots and forced them to commit acts of despair like this one," a third source added.
Let's hope. North Aftica's close proximity to southern Europe obviously makes it an attractive place from which to launch attacks and infiltrate the Old Continent.