Ghriba synagogue bombing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Synagogue entrance through which fuel tanker truck drove during attack

v • d • e Attacks by al-Qaeda

1st WTC – PR Flight 434 – African embassies – USS Cole – Rizal Day – 2nd WTC/Pentagon/Shanksville – Ghriba – Limburg – Mombasa – Riyadh – Casablanca – Istanbul – Madrid – 2nd Khobar – Sinai – 1st London – 2nd London – Sharm el-Sheikh – Amman – Dahab Other Al-Qaeda-connected attacks: Iraq – Algeria – Afghanistan – Pakistan

The Ghriba synagogue bombing was a deadly bombing carried out in Tunisia by the al-Qaeda terrorist group on the El Ghriba synagogue.

On April 11, 2002, a natural gas truck fitted with explosives drove past security barriers at the ancient Ghriba Synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba. The truck detonated at the front of the synagogue, killing 14 German tourists, six Tunisians, and one Frenchman. More than 30 others were wounded.

Although the attack was initially called an accident, as Tunisia, France, and Germany investigated, it became clear the attack was deliberate. A 24 year-old man named Nizar Nawar apparently was the suicide bomber, who carried out the attack with the aid of a relative. An audio tape later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it "sent Germany a message."

In March 2003, five people were arrested in Spain who were believed to have financed this attack. In April 2003, a German man named Christian Ganczarski was arrested in Paris in connection with the bombing; he was suspected of having strong ties to al-Qaeda. He was arrested by a joint intelligence operation, in the frame of Alliance Base, which is located in Paris, and transferred to Fresnes prison in Paris.