The 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings consisted of a series of coordinated bombings against the Cercanías (commuter train) system of Madrid, Spain on the morning of 11 March 2004 (three days before Spain's general elections), killing 191 people and wounding 1,800. The official investigation by the Spanish Judiciary determined the attacks were directed by a Muslim al-Qaeda-inspired terrorist cell although no direct al-Qaeda participation (only "inspiration" ) has been established. Spanish Muslims who did not carry out the attacks but who sold the explosives to the terrorists were also arrested.
Controversy regarding the handling and representation of the bombings by the government arose with Spain's two main political parties (PSOE and Partido Popular (PP)), accusing each other of concealing or distorting evidence for electoral reasons. The bombings occurred three days before general elections which resulted in the defeat of the incumbent José María Aznar's Partido Popular (PP), which had been enjoying a small and narrowing lead in the opinion polls. Immediately after the bombing leaders of the PP claimed evidence indicated the Basque ETA was responsible for the bombings, an outcome generally thought favorable to the PP's chances of being re-elected, while Islamist responsibility would have had the opposite effect, as it would have been perceived a consequence of the PP government's involvement in the Iraq War, a policy already extremely unpopular with Spaniards.
Nationwide demonstrations and protests followed the attacks. Some analysts claim that the Aznar administration lost the general elections as a result of the handling and representation of the terrorist attacks, rather than the bombings per se.
After 21 months of investigation, judge Juan del Olmo ruled Moroccan national Jamal Zougam guilty of physically carrying out the attack, ruling out any ETA intervention. The September 2007 sentence established no known mastermind nor direct al-Qaida link.
Description of the bombings
During the peak of Madrid rush hour on the morning of Thursday, 11 March 2004, ten explosions occurred aboard four commuter trains ( cercanías ). All the affected trains were traveling on the same line and in the same direction between Alcalá de Henares and the Atocha station in Madrid. It was later reported that thirteen improvised explosive devices (IEDs) had been placed on the trains. Bomb-disposal teams (TEDAX) arriving at the scenes of the explosions detonated two of the remaining three IEDs in controlled explosions, but the third was not found until later in the evening, having been stored inadvertently with luggage taken from one of the trains. The following time-line of events comes from the judicial investigation.
All four trains had departed the Alcalá de Henares station between 07:01 and 07:14. The explosions took place between 07:37 and 07:40 in the morning, as described below (all timings given are in local time CET, UTC +1):
- Atocha Station (train number 21431) – Three bombs exploded. Based on the video recording from the station security system, the first bomb exploded at 07:37, and two others exploded within 4 seconds of each other at 07:38.
- El Pozo del Tío Raimundo Station (train number 21435) – At approximately 07:38, just as the train was starting to leave the station, two bombs exploded in different carriages.
- Santa Eugenia Station (train number 21713) – One bomb exploded at approximately 07:38.
- Calle Téllez, (train number 17305) , approximately 800 meters from Atocha Station – Four bombs exploded in different carriages of the train at approximately 07:39.
At 08:00, emergency relief workers began arriving at the scenes of the bombings. The police reported numerous victims and spoke of 50 wounded and several dead. By 08:30 the emergency ambulance service, SAMUR (Servicio de Asistencia Municipal de Urgencia y Rescate) , had set up a field hospital at the Daoiz y Velarde sports facility. Bystanders and local residents helped relief workers, as hospitals were told to expect the arrival of many casualties. At 08:43, fire fighters reported 15 dead at El Pozo. By 09:00, the police had confirmed the death of at least 30 people – 20 at El Pozo and about 10 in Santa Eugenia and Atocha.
The total number of victims was 191. There were victims from 17 countries: 142 Spanish, 16 Romanians, 6 Ecuadorian, 4 Poles, 4 Bulgarians, 3 Peruvians, 2 Dominicans, 2 Colombians, 2 Moroccans, 2 Ukranians, 2 Hondurans, 1 Senegalese, 1 Cuban, 1 Chilean, 1 Brazilian, 1 French, and 1 Filipino. The total number of victims was higher than in any other terrorist attack in Spain, far surpassing the 21 killed and 40 wounded from a 1987 bombing at a Hipercor chain supermarket in Barcelona. On that occasion, responsibility was claimed by the Basque armed militant group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna ("Basque Fatherland and Liberty"), or ETA. It was also the worst incident of this kind in Europe since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988.
Further bombings spur investigation
A device composed of 12 kilograms of Goma-2 ECO with a detonator and 136 meters of wire (connected to nothing) was found on the track of a high-speed train (AVE) on 2 April. The Spanish Judiciary chose not to investigate that incident and the perpetrators remain unknown. The device used in the AVE incident was unable to explode because it lacked an initiation system.
Shortly after the AVE incident, police identified an apartment in Leganés, south of Madrid, as the base of operations for the individuals suspected of being the material authors of the Madrid and AVE attacks. The suspected militants, 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 3 April. At 9:03 pm, when the police started to assault the premises, the militants committed suicide by setting off explosives, killing themselves and one of the police officers. Investigators subsequently found that the explosives used in the Leganés explosion were of the same type as those used in the 11 March attacks (though it had not been possible to identify a brand of dynamite from samples taken from the trains) and in the thwarted bombing of the AVE line.
Based on the assumption that the militants killed at Leganés were, indeed, the individuals responsible for the train bombings, the ensuing investigation focused on how they obtained their estimated 200 kg of explosives. The investigation revealed that they had been bought from a retired miner who still had access to blasting equipment.
Five to eight suspects believed to be involved in the 11 March attacks managed to escape. ABC reported in December 2006 that the ETA reminded Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero about 11 March 2004 as an example of what could happen unless the Government considered their petitions (in reference to the 2004 electoral swing), although the source also makes it clear that ETA 'had nothing to do' with the attack itself.
Aftermath
Main article: Aftermath of the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombingsIn France, the Vigipirate plan was upgraded to orange level. In Italy, the Government declared a state of high alert.
In December 2004 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero claimed that the PP government erased all of the computer files related to the Madrid bombings, leaving only the documents on paper.
On 25 March 2005, prosecutor Olga Sánchez asserted that the bombings happened 911 days after 9/11 due to the "highly symbolic and qabbalistic charge for local al-Qaida groups" of choosing that day. However, because 2004 was a leap year, 912 days had in fact passed between 11 September 2001 and 11 March 2004, though one could say there are 911 days between those days.
On 4 January 2007 El País reported that Algerian Daoud Ouhnane, who is considered to be the mastermind of the 11-M bombings, has been searching for ways to return to Spain to prepare further attacks, though this has not been confirmed. (Spanish)
On 17 March 2008 Basel Ghalyoun, Mohamed Almallah Dabas, Abdelillah El-Fadual El-Akil and Raúl González Peña, having been previously found guilty by the Audiencia Nacional, were released after a Higher Court ruling. This court also verified the release of the Egyptian Rabei Osman al-Sayed.
Responsibility
According to the Spanish judiciary, a loose group of Moroccan, Syrian, and Algerian Muslims and two Guardia Civil and Spanish police informants, are suspected of having carried out the attacks. As of 11 April 2006, Judge Juan del Olmo charged 29 suspects for their involvement in the train bombings.
No evidence has been found of al-Qaeda involvement, although an al-Qaeda claim was made the day of the attacks by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades. However, U.S. officials note that this group is "notoriously unreliable" . On August 2007, al-Qaida claimed to be "proud" about the Madrid 2004 bombings.
According to The Independent, "Those who invented the new kind of rucksack bomb used in the attacks are said to have been taught in training camps in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, under instru
Madrid-Barajas Airport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Retrieved 2006-12-31. ^ Webb, Jason; Sanz, Inmaculada (2006-12-30). "Four hurt in Madrid airport bomb, ETA claims attack". Reuters. http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx ...
BBC NEWS | Europe | Eta claims Madrid airport attack
Basque Eta separatists say they carried out last week's Madrid airport bombing, but insist a truce remains in force.
Thousands protest at Eta airport bomb attack - Europe, World - The ...
Protesters demonstrated throughout Spain against Eta's car-bomb attack at Madrid airport on Saturday that injured 26 people, left two missing and shattered a ceasefire called by ...
LiveLeak.com - Madrid Airport bombing surveillance video
barajas explosion footage 4 passengers on their way to the airports parking ... Aftermath of Madrid Airport Attack
No Negotiating With Separatists After Airport Attack, Spaniard Says ...
No Negotiating With Separatists After Airport Attack ... of millions of dollars of damage to Madrid’s state-of-the-art airport terminal, opened only early last January, the attack ...
Spain: ETA suspects bombed airport - CNN.com
Two ETA members arrested over the weekend were responsible for a fatal bombing at a Madrid airport in 2006, an attack which effectively ended the group's cease-fire, Spain's ...
2006 Madrid Barajas International Airport bombing - Wikipedia, the ...
Retrieved 31 December 2006. ^ Webb, Jason; Sanz, Inmaculada (30 December 2006). "Four hurt in Madrid airport bomb, ETA claims attack". Reuters.
LiveLeak.com - Aftermath of Madrid Airport Attack
All flights were cancelled or delayed and access roads were not opened until the evening after an explosion went off in a parking lot at Madrid's airport early Saturday morning ...
Hope fades for Madrid airport bombing victims | BreakingNews.ie
Four days after a powerful car bomb attack at Madrid’s airport, blamed on the Basque separatist group Eta, rescue workers were today giving up hope of finding alive two people ...
Breaking: Apparent terrorist attack in Madrid airport - JREF Forum
Breaking: Apparent terrorist attack in Madrid airport Politics ... Welcome to the JREF Forum, where we discuss skepticism, critical thinking, the paranormal and science in a ...