The "engineers cell" dismantled in Morocco
By Olivier Guitta
From The Croissant comes this story:
The suicide bomber who unsuccessfully targeted a bus full of tourists in Meknès (Morocco) on August 13, 2007,Hicham Dokkali, is an engineer working for the tax collection administration [Moroccan equivalent of the IRS].
He decided to blow himself up on his 30th birthday.
According to credible sources, police had access to his home computer and found proof of connections between the suicide bomber and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). At this point, it is unclear if the connection was just [“virtual”] through visiting terrorist sites [linked to AQIM] or if he had actual messages exchanges with AQIM members.
4 of Hicham Dokkali’s fellow engineers and colleagues at the tax collection administration and his wife were arrested.
Dokkali informed authorities of the involvement of the 4 engineers in the plot.
One of them admitted being aware of Dokkali’s plans and thought about joining in the attack.
According to investigators, the 5 individuals allegedly planned a wave of terror attacks in Meknès mostly against tourists but they argued on the timing and the modus operandi.
And it seems to explain why Dokkali rushed to perpetrate the attack on its own.
None of the members of this “engineers cell” were known to security services…
This latest attack might fit in the latest trend of targeting foreign nationals rather than buildings. On this topic, I wrote an article on Soft targets that can be found here.
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