Terror in Barcelona

Terror in Barcelona

As the story unfolds, citizens of 24 nations were among those killed and injured in Barcelona including one Belgian national confirmed to be among the dead. This attack, the latest in a wave of vehicle “terror” across Europe in recent times, caused panic in Spain’s largest city and drew swift condemnation from leaders around the world.

“It was clearly a terror attack, intended to kill as many people as possible.” – Josep Lluis Trapero, Senior Police Official. 

A few hours later, police said they had killed “four suspected terrorists” and left another injured in Cambrils, a city that is 79 miles south of Barcelona. The region’s government of Catalonia, where both Barcelona and Cambrils are located, verified the incident in the early hours of Friday, which the local authorities had earlier stated as a “possible terrorist attack.”

How it unfolded…

A white Fiat van, which was reported rented, plowed into pedestrians outside a Jewish restaurant on a busy street in Barcelona a little after 5 pm on Thursday (8/17/17). The Vehicle moved onto the promenade and charged down the busy walkway in central Barcelona for 500 meters, going back and forth as it ran pedestrians down and turned a beautiful tourist destination into a nightmare killing zone.

Eyewitness Testimonies… 

Aamer Anwar a lawyer and Rector from the University of Glasglow was walking in La Ramblas when he heard screaming. He said a shopkeeper told him five or six people were badly injured and described the scene as “chaos.”

Aamer’s witness account:

“I was walking down Las Ramblas for something to eat. Part of the street was in the shade so I decided to keep walking down and literally within 10 seconds there was a crashing noise. I turned around and people were screaming – I could see a woman screaming with her kids – people started running and jumping into shops. I ran for about 50-100 meters and turned around to see what was happening.”

British tourist Keith Welling, who had come to Barcelona on Wednesday with his wife and 9-year older daughter, said they saw the van drive right past them down the avenue and took refuge in a restaurant when panic broke out and the crowd started to run.

“People were shouting and we heard a bang and someone cried that it was a gunshot. My family and I ran into the restaurant along with roughly 40 other people.”

Cambrils…

Locals of the Spanish seaside resort of Cambrils fled in terror in the early hours of Friday after five terrorists wearing suicide bomb vests launched the second vehicle attack in the country just after a few hours from the first. As of now, six people have been hurt in the second attack, when attackers drove into pedestrians before being shot and killed by the security forces. Of the six civilians caught in the Cambrils attack, two are said to be in serious condition. As of now, one has unfortunately died per an official Twitter account.

This time the Vehicle used was an Audi A3. It rammed into people on the seaside promenade of the tourist city of Cambrils. Police said the suspects in Cambrils carried bomb belts, which were detonated safely by a police bomb squad. Media reports said a car crashed into a police vehicle and nearby civilians. Police shot the attackers, one who was waving a knife around. For now, police have not said how the attack was being carried out. A police officer and five civilians have been injured, one which has now passed away due to serious injuries.

Isil claims responsibility…

According to the jihadist organization’s propaganda outlet Amaq, “Soldiers” of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have announced that they orchestrated the deadly van attack. Amaq said they had launched the attack in response to calls to target states taking part in the US-led coalition battling the jihadist group in Iraq and Syria.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the attack was “jihadist terrorism” which required a swift global response. At a news conference in Barcelona, Rajoy said:

“Today the fight against terrorism is the principal priority for free and open societies like ours, it is a global threat and the response has to be global.”

Isil, which once controlled a self-declared “caliphate” across large parts of Iraq and Syria, has now suffered major losses in recent months. Coalition-backed Iraqi forces recaptured its Iraqi stronghold Mosul in July.

More to come as the story develops.

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