On Wednesday morning, another explosion rocked the city center of Cologne, this time destroying a clothing store and slightly injuring one person. This follows a similar explosive attack on a dance club on Monday, just a few hundred meters away, according to Mandiner.
The attack is just one of a wave of bombings in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), where Cologne is located, in recent months. Police are investigating a link with the notorious Mocro Mafia, which is based out of the Netherlands.
In the latest case, the clothing store “LFDY” was mostly destroyed in the bombing attack, which was carried out by unknown perpetrators. According to the Kölner Stadtanzeiger, the clothing store’s entrance was “massively damaged.”
The detonation occurred at around 5 a.m. on Ehrenstrasse, with officers sealing off the area to conduct a forensic investigation. They also asked residents from across the city to avoid the area.
Police suspect the Mocro Mafia is behind bombing wave
Previous bombings have occurred in July and August, including a large explosion in a commercial building in downtown Düsseldorf on July 11. Nobody was injured then, but investigators said they were checking a connection with the Dutch Mocro Mafia. The Moroccan-based gang is well known for contract killings and carrying out such brazen attacks in the Netherlands, and it is currently expanding its influence into Germany. Similar bombings took place in Engelskirchen and Duisburg in the summer, along with a hostage-taking incident in early July in Cologne-Rodenkirchen.
The hostage-taking incident occurred after the Mocro Mafia delivered 300 kilograms of marijuana to Cologne, at which point, a rival drug organization stole it, according to German news outlet WDR. The Moroccans used bombing attacks, took hostages, and employed other brutal methods to get back the marijuana.
In addition, a deadly bomb attack in Solingen, which was also the scene of the Islamic terror stabbing that cost lives last month, is believed to have been carried out on orders from the Mocro Mafia, which detonated too early, killing the 17-year-old ordered to deliver the bomb.
On Monday, an explosion tore through the Cologne nightclub “Vanity,” with video of the incident going viral on social media. In that attack, a 53-year-old man was slightly injured. Police are searching for a suspect caught on surveillance video who was filmed lighting a plastic bag containing accelerant before the attack.