Spanish police have announced that they have killed four people and injured another to foil what was supposed to be the second act of Terrorism in Spain on Thursday night, this time in the city of Cambrils. This follows the attack earlier in the city of Barcelona which left thirteen people dead and more than a hundred people injured as a car entered the pedestrian zone in the La Rambla street in central Barcelona.
Attack in Cambrils
The police reported that a van attempted to cross over to the Pedestrian Area but failed and overturned resulting in police open firing and the deaths of four of the terrorists while another was seriously injured.
Several Spanish news outlets also indicate that several civilians were injured, including a police officer before the van came to a halt. Police have said that the situation in Cambrils is under control. An hour and a half away from Barcelona, the coastal town of Cambrils is another key tourist destination in the comarca (group of municipalities) of Baix Camp, province of Tarragona, in Catalonia.
Attacks in Alcanar, Barcelona and Cambrils linked
Wednesday night saw a huge explosion in a house in the city of Alcanar, another town in Catalonia, 120 miles south of Barcelona resulting in a death and a critical injury. Police found approximately 20 canisters of butane and propane gas inside the house which they estimated to have been occupied for a few months.
While not much was made of the attack at the time as the police called it a potential gas explosion, the police now, after the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils have hinted at a potential link between the three attacks. The terrorist group ISIL claimed responsibility for the Barcelona attack through its news agency saying that it was carried by its "Islamic state soldiers".
Police released a photo of the man whose documents were used to rent the van used in the attack as Driss Oukabir, believed to be in his 20s, from Morocco. However local news coming out of Barcelona indicates that the man has told the police that he was not involved and that his documents were stolen.
Europe in recent times has seen a horrific common denominator of vehicles being used in terrorist attacks.
These attacks are hard to monitor and have caused many deaths in major European cities in London, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm and now Barcelona. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain declared three days of national mourning and said the country was united against such forms of "jihadist attacks". Former President Barack Obama was among many leaders around the world who came out in support of Spain.
