Two suicide bombers have blown themselves up in Casablanca close to the city's US consulate and American cultural centre, officials have said.

Police arrested a third suspected bomber as he attempted to flee the scene on Saturday.

"He threw down his explosives belt and ran away. Police chased him and caught him," a witness said.

Saturday's bombings came after three men detonated explosive belts they were wearing in Morocco's largest city on Tuesday.

The police said that they had also arrested the "mastermind" of a group responsible for several recent suicide attacks in Casablanca, along with his deputy.

They said that the men had been questioned and had provided information on the group's other members and targets.

Officials and witnesses said that Saturday's suicide bombers had attempted to attack US targets in Casablanca.

 

"There is no doubt they aimed at the US targets. They made that statement with their own bodies," a senior police source told Reuters.

Other witnesses said that one man approached the US consulate and the other the cultural centre before blowing themselves up one minute apart.

Three suicide bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca on Tuesday  and police shot and killed a fourth man who appeared to be preparing to detonate explosives, authorities said.

Police had been pursuing the men in connection with an explosion in an internet cafe in the city on March 11.

An internet statement purportedly from al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the bombings but the government in Rabat insists that the bombers were "home-grown" with no links to international groups.