WASHINGTON — Bombings in Algeria and Morocco and other militant activity across North Africa have put U.S. and European authorities on alert that their interests in the region may be targeted for attack, officials say.
On Saturday, two brothers with explosives-laden belts blew themselves up in Morocco's largest city, Casablanca, injuring one woman. Moroccan authorities later arrested at least one man suspected of being linked to the bombings, according to the official MAP news agency.
The U.S. State Department said one bombing occurred near the U.S. Consulate and the second near an American language center. Both facilities are located along a main boulevard in Casablanca.
The bombings followed a series of attacks in the region last week, including strikes Wednesday on the prime minister's office in Algiers and a suburban police station that killed 33 people. The new violence underscored concerns about escalating extremist activity in North Africa.
A day before the Algiers attacks, Moroccan police confronted a group of suspected terrorists in Casablanca. Three of them detonated suicide vests and a fourth was killed by police gunfire. U.S. officials said the men were part of a group plotting attacks against tourist targets and Western interests.
In Tunisia, police recently engaged in a deadly shootout with gunmen linked to Al Qaeda's new regional affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb, a term referring to the North African nations west of Egypt. The gunmen allegedly planned to attack foreign embassies.
"The cancer is spreading, and it is very troubling," one senior U.S. counter-terrorism official said Saturday. "These groups are expanding beyond what their initial local targets were, and striking at the U.S."
But are the perpetrators linked? Or might they be local militants with separate but related grievances against the United States and Europe, as well as their own governments?
Counter-terrorism officials in Washington and Europe said they might not know the answers to those questions for months.
"Naturally, there are a lot of people in a lot of different places looking very hard at this, not just in the places affected, but in Europe and this country as well," said a second U.S. counter-terrorism official, who was interviewed before the Saturday bombings. Both U.S. officials spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss ongoing investigations headed by other countries.
