Two suspected bombers killed in Casablanca

Police walk down a street at Mulay Rachid slum in Casablanca, March 14, 2007. A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up shortly after police shot dead a second suspected suicide bomber overnight in a Casablanca slum, Moroccan police sources said on Tuesday.

CASABLANCA (Reuters) - A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up after police shot dead another overnight during a chase in a Casablanca slum, Moroccan police sources and witnesses said on Tuesday.

Police cordoned off part of Fida, a poor working-class suburb of Morocco's economic capital, and were trying to trace a third suspect who escaped the police, residents said.

By mid-morning hundreds of onlookers had gathered near the house as a forensic investigation team sifted through debris on the roof terrace where the man blew himself up.

Residents said bomb disposal officers were also called in case the house was booby-trapped or explosives were stored there. Scuffles broke out briefly between news photographers and soldiers who stopped them getting closer to the house.

Morocco has been on alert since 2003 when 13 suicide bombers killed themselves and 32 other people in central Casablanca in an attempt to punish Morocco for being a staunch ally of the United States in its "war on terror".

Zohra, who lived in the house next-door and was waiting in the street after being evacuated, said she had been awoken by gunfire and heard a loud blast shortly afterwards.

She said neighbors told her a young man had blown himself up on the roof after police cornered him.

"He and three or four other young men moved into a flat in the building about two months ago," she told Reuters. "They aren't from around here. They kept themselves to themselves. They dressed normally, in jeans and trainers."

Abdellatif, 40 and unemployed, said he was nearby in Fida with some friends when a police car screeched to a halt in front of them and officers dashed into a side street.

"A while later two guys ran out of a house with the police in pursuit," said Abdellatif. "The police officers ordered the men to stop and one of the men shot at them. The police shot back and he fell. The other got away."

Another resident, Mohammed, said the third suspect climbed onto the roof terrace but was trapped by police.

"That's when he blew himself up. The terrace was gutted and I saw body parts scattered around."

Some residents said part of the building collapsed but many denied this and it could not be confirmed.

LANDMARKS TARGETED

Police have been looking for up to 12 suspected suicide bombers since March 11 when the alleged leader of a suicide squad detonated his explosives belt in a cybercafe to stop police arresting him, the sources added.

They said they believed the bombers had started wearing the belts all the time to stop security forces taking them alive.

Security officials said last month that Islamist bombers planned to blow up foreign ships at the port of Casablanca and other landmarks, including hotels in Marrakesh and Agadir.

Police foiled the plot by arresting more than 40 people, most of them living in Casablanca's slums, they said.

Three of those arrested lived in a rented house in a slum where police seized 6.5 kg (14.3 lb.) of explosives.

Government officials said the suspected bombers and the network they belonged to were part of "home-grown terrorism" inspired by Islamist Jihadism from abroad, including al Qaeda.

In a Web cafe a few hundred yards from the area cordoned off in Fida, life was going on as normal.

But some customers said the explosion, coming so soon after the cybercafe blast in Sidi Moumen, had got people scared.

"I think twice even before coming into this place," said Merwan, a 19-year-old accounting student. "You never know who you are really talking to these days."

(additional reporting by Lamine Ghanmi in Rabat)