Terror attack in Barcelona

[kilgram]

It seems that for good luck the attackers were very clumsy.

They had a different objecitve. Their objective was the "Sagrada Familia", but they had an accident and the explosives eploted where they were preparing them. Good luck, because it could have been worse.

[waltky]

Spanish police take down Barcelona terror cell...

Barcelona attack: Government says terror cell dismantled
Sat, 19 Aug 2017 - The hunt continues for Younes Abouyaaqoub, who police say may have driven the van that killed 13.

The terror cell behind the attack in Barcelona that left 13 people dead has been dismantled, Spain's Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido says. "The cell has been fully dismantled in Barcelona, after examining the people who died, the people who were arrested and carrying out identity checks," he told a news conference. But the regional Catalan government said there could be further arrests. A key suspect linked to the Barcelona attack and a later one is still sought. Thursday's attack in the Catalan capital saw a van driven at high speed along Las Ramblas - the pedestrianised avenue popular with tourists and residents alike.

Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, has emerged as the main suspect in the Barcelona attack

Spanish police are searching for Moroccan-born Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, who they suspect may be the driver who escaped the scene on foot. Only hours later, early on Friday, there was a second van attack in Cambrils, west of Barcelona. A woman was killed and police shot dead five suspected attackers, including Moussa Oukabir, 17, originally reported as the key suspect in the Barcelona attack. Oukabir is suspected of using his brother's documents to rent the van used in Barcelona and another found hours later in the town of Vic, north of Barcelona, that was intended as a getaway vehicle.

The terror cell is reported to comprise 12 men. The Catalan Interior Minster, Joaquim Forn, stressed that the police operation could not be considered over until all those suspected of being part of the cell were in custody. Police say the suspects had been planning more sophisticated attacks, but an explosion on Wednesday at a house in the town of Alcanar deprived them of bomb material, so they carried out simpler attacks using vehicles. Abouyaaqoub lived in the town of Ripoll to the north of Barcelona. Three people have been arrested in Ripoll, and one in Alcanar. In Ripoll the apartment of an imam was raided on Saturday.

Map showing route of van which drove into crowds in Barcelona

Another van, a Renault Kangoo, is also being sought, amid reports it may have been driven across the border into France. Security is being stepped up, though the security alert level is staying unchanged as there is no information suggesting an imminent attack. Special police controls were introduced at Saturday's two La Liga football matches in Barcelona and Girona.

Who are the suspects?

See also:

Barcelona and Cambrils attacks: 'I'm not afraid'
18 August 2017 - Spanish cities joined together in silence on Friday for the victims of the truck attack on Barcelona's Las Ramblas. But when the minute's tribute ended in the city's Plaça de Catalunya, the chants began in Catalan of "No tinc por" - I'm not afraid.

After the silence came a ripple of applause, and then spontaneously the shouts of defiance spread around the crowd of tens of thousands in the square and in the streets around it. At the front of the crowd stood King Felipe VI, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Catalan President Carles Puigdemont. It was a rare moment of unity for a prime minister and a Catalan leader at loggerheads over a planned 1 October secession vote. And the sentiment resonated across Spain and beyond. Almost every Catalan will have understood No tinc por and its plural No tenim por - we are not afraid. For most Spaniards the words themselves mean nothing.

Police officers patrol on the spot where five terrorists were shot by police on August 18, 2017 in Cambrils, Spain.

Barcelona doctor Arturo Huerta was among the first to tweet the phrase, adding its translation in Spanish "No tengo miedo", as well as English, French and German. "Strength in unity," he added. The design of a four-petalled flower is an important symbol for Barcelona. Paving stones with the "flower of Barcelona" motif are everywhere in the city. By Friday afternoon over 12,000 people had used the Catalan hashtags NoTincPor and NoTenimPor, including Carles Puigdemont and Barcelona's mayor, Ada Colau. The Catalan government tweeted: "The people of Barcelona's answer has been immense and impressive. This is the defeat of terrorism, the spontaneous cry of 'I am not afraid'."

That show of unity has been matched by Spain's national political class. Socialist opposition leader Pedro Sanchez, who took part in the silence in Barcelona tweeted in Spanish as well as Catalan: "We are not afraid". For now the mood in Barcelona and Spain more widely is one of unity and defiance. But the background noise until now in Barcelona and the national capital, Madrid, has been anything but.

Have Spanish police passed on intelligence?

[Tahuyaman]

Expect more attacks in Europe. Perhaps even here in the US.

Europe has been hit hard with these attacks and there's no reason to believe that they will stop anytime soon.
You can't completely kill the ideology which inspires this evil, but you kill it enough to keep it contained in its own part of the world.

[Peter1469]

Europe has been hit hard with these attacks and there's no reason to believe that they will stop anytime soon.
You can't completely kill the ideology which inspires this evil, but you kill it enough to keep it contained in its own part of the world.

It will be a concern for a long time.

[Tahuyaman]

It will be a concern for a long time.

It's going to be a perpetual concern. Evil doesn't cease to exist because you kill those who conduct evil acts.

[resister]

It seems that for good luck the attackers were very clumsy.

They had a different objecitve. Their objective was the "Sagrada Familia", but they had an accident and the explosives eploted where they were preparing them. Good luck, because it could have been worse.

Good, some High explosives are very easy to make, but very unstable. Karma is a $#@!.