Home > 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks
The 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks (also known as 11/3, 3/11 and 11-M) were a series of coordinated terrorist bombings against the commuter train system of Madrid, Spain on the morning of 11 March 2004, which killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800.1 Summary
The 11 March 2004 attacks consisted of a series of ten explosions that occurred at the height of the Madrid rush hour aboard four commuter trains (Cercanías in Spanish). Thirteen improvised explosive devices were reported to have been used, all but three of which detonated.
The attacks were the deadliest assault by a terrorist organisation against civilians in Europe since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988 and the worst terrorist assault in modern Spanish history. The number victims in this attack far surpassed Spain's previous worst bombing incident at a Hipercor chain supermarket in Barcelona in 1987, which killed 21 and wounded 40; on that occasion, responsibility was claimed by the BasqueThis article is about the Basque people. For the article of clothing, see basque (clothing). The Basques Euskaldunak are an indigenous people who inhabit parts of both Spain and France. They are found predominantly in four provinces in Spain and three in armed terrorist group Euskadi Ta AskatasunaFor other meanings of ETA, see Eta. Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA (the name means "Basque country and freedom"), is the name of a Basque paramilitary group that seeks to create an independent state for the Basque people, separate from neighboring Spain and ("Basque Fatherland and Liberty") or ETA.
Official statements issued shortly after the Madrid attacks identified ETA as the prime suspect, but the group, which usually claims responsibility for its actions, denied any wrong-doing. Later evidence strongly pointed to the involvement of extremist Islamist groups, with the Moroccan Islamic Combatant GroupThe Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain or GICM) is an extremist Islamic fundamentalist group operating in North Africa and suspected of having links with al-Qaida. Its goals reportedly include establishing an Islamic sta named as a focus of investigations. As of early April 20042004 : January February March April May June July August September October November December Deaths in April • 18 Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara • 19 Norris McWhirter • 22 Pat Tillman • 24 Estee Lauder Other recent deaths Ongoing events EU Enlargement Exploration, fifteen people had been arrested, and seven more were detained in connection with the attacks.
An attempted bombing of the track of the high-speed AVEThis article is about the train. See also Advanced Vehicle Engineers, a short-lived aviation company AVE short for Alta Velocidad Espanola (literally, "Spanish High Speed" but also "bird" in Spanish) is a high speed train that can achieve speeds of up to train took place on April 2April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. Events 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon sets foot on Florida becoming the first known European to do so. 1755 Commodore William James captures pirate fortr but was unsuccessful. Shortly afterwards, police identified an apartment in Leganés, south of Madrid, as being the base of operations for the individuals suspected of being the material authors of the Madrid and AVE attacks. The suspected terrorists, headed by Jamal Zougam, Serhane Abdelmaji "the Tunisian" and Jamal Ahmidan "the Chinese", were trapped inside the apartment by a police raid on the evening of Saturday April 3rd. At 9:03 pm, when the police started to assault the premises, the terrorists committed suicide by setting off explosives, killing themselves and one of the policemen in the blast.
Investigators subsequently found that the explosives used in the Leganés explosion were of the same type as those used in the March 11th attacks and the thwarted bombing of the AVE line. It is generally presumed that the terrorists killed at Leganés were, indeed, the individuals responsible for both attacks. An investigation on how they obtained their explosives (a total of around 200 kg) is currently in progress. It is believed that others involved in the March 11th attacks may have managed to escape.
