“Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb†has denied all responsibility for last week’s attack in Marrakesh, Morocco, which killed 17 people, most of them foreigners, two days after the Moroccan interior ministry said three men had been arrested, including one “loyal†Al-Qaeda member.
"We have followed the Argana explosive in Marrakesh and the following accusations circulated by the Moroccan interior minister and others that ‘Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’ (AQMI) was behind the incident. We deny undoubtedly our relation to the blast," the group said in a statement carried by online private Nouakchott News Agency (ANI) on Saturday.
AQMI declares itself the North African branch of Al Qaeda and has claimed responsibility for several kidnappings by militants operating in Mali, Niger and Mauritania.
The death toll of the attack rose to 17 after a 25- year-old Swiss woman died Friday (May 6) from wounds suffered in the explosion.
The blast ripped through Argana café in Marrakesh; eight of the victims were French. Paris has sent officers to assist the Moroccan investigation and French anti-terrorism judges have opened a formal probe.
Interior Minister Taieb Cherkaoui said the main suspect has tried several times to travel to Afghanistan, Chechnya, Georgia and Turkey before opting to carry out his attack in Morocco after having learned from the Internet how make explosives.