Ghriba synagogue bombing

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Synagogue entrance through which the fuel tanker drove during attack

The Ghriba synagogue bombing was a deadly bombing carried out by Niser bin Muhammad Nasar Nawar in Tunisia 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.^[1] The truck detonated at the front of the synagogue, killing 14 German tourists, five Tunisians, and two French nationals.^[2] More than 30 others were wounded.

Although the attack was initially called an accident,^[3] 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.^[4] Al Qaeda later claimed responsibility for the attack,^[5] which was reportedly organized by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.^[6]

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 arrested by a joint intelligence operation, in the frame of Alliance Base, which is located in Paris, and transferred to Fresnes prison in Paris. In February 2009, Ganczarski was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the bombing.^[7] A Canadian, Niser bin Muhammad Nasar Nawar, was alleged to have planned the attack.^[8]

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