French police detained 15 people on Monday morning in an operation to catch suspected radical Islamists who were believed to have been involved in the explosions in the Moroccan city of Casablanca last year, the Interior Ministry said.

The operation started at 6:00 am (0400 GMT) in the suburbs of Aulnay-sous-Bois and Mantes-la-Jolie in the capital.

The judicial sources said the operation was carried out as part of an investigation into the deaths of three French nationals in the Casablanca bombings on May 16 last year.

Four bombs exploded near consulates and restaurants in the downtown of Casablanca, killing 41 people and injuring about 100 others.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2004)