Madrid Terror Attacks

MADRID TERROR ATTACKS On Thursday March 11th 2004 a series of deadly bomds exploded in trains and trainstations in Madrid, Spain. At least 200 people were killed and thousands of people were injured. Most of the deadly victims came from Spain. 21 others came from other countries, most of them from South-America. The Spanish Government blamed the armed Basque separatist group ETA of the trainbombings. The bombs were hided in backpacks. Everybody in Spain and all over the world were shocked. The citizens of Madrid wanted to help. The only thing they could do was give blood for the victims. Mobile bloodbanks came to Madrid and thousands of people gave blood. Some of them had to wait for hours. Everbody in Spain thought that the ETA was responsible for these terrible attacks. But ETA said that they had nothing to do with these horrible attacks. After a stolen van was found in a town outside Madrid with in it Arabic-tapes with Koranic-verses and detonators, a lot of people thought that Al-Qaida had something to do with it. Later that day an Arabic newspaper in London, England received a anonymous e-mail that said that the bombings were the responsibility of an Arabic terrorist-group called the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Mansri. The ETA is responsible for attacks all over Spain since 1960. In those attacks around 800 people were killed. The explosives used by the attacks in Madrid are very different the explosives ETA used. Yesterday there were marches against terrorism in all big cities in Spain. Eight million people were walking in one of these marches. In The Hague was also a march, thousands of people were walking in it. When I heard of these terrible bombings, I also was in shock. I hope that this never happens in The Netherlands. If there is a trainbombing in The Netherlands, I think that the target is Utrecht because that is the central point of all trains in our country.