The al-Qaida terror network is among the suspects in connection with a bomb attack that killed 16 in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, the government said Friday.

Communications Minister Khalid Naciri said that investigators would pursue all leads including possible links to al-Qaida which operates a North African offshoot which is active in the region, Agence France Presse reported.

A powerful blast ripped through a cafe in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh Thursday, killing 11 foreigners and three Moroccans in what authorities suspect was the work of a suicide bomber.

"According to the information I have, it could have been perpetrated by a suicide bomber," an official in the regional governor's office told Agence France Presse.