Fourth suspect detained after attacks in Spain as toll rises to 14

BARCELONA — Largely spared the Islamic State (IS) attacks that have plagued Europe in recent years, Spaniards awoke Friday (Aug 18) to a sobering new reality after a pair of vehicular assaults in Barcelona and a seaside resort town left 14 dead and scores wounded.

Authorities had been warning of an impending attack for some time, having raised the terrorism threat alert to its second-highest level in 2015. Since the beginning of this year, Spanish police have arrested at least 20 people suspected of links to the IS militant group, the Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre said.

Nevertheless, the attacks, the deadliest in Spain in more than a decade, seemed to catch the country by surprise, adding it to the list of European nations - including Belgium, Britain, France and Germany - struck by similar assaults attributed to the IS.

Las Ramblas, the site of the Barcelona attack, was thronged again Friday morning, almost as if nothing had happened the day before. But the mood was subdued, and people were talking quietly.

Most of the shops were open, but they did not seem to have many customers. Where the truck had stopped and many people were killed or injured is a mosaic in the pavement by Mr Joan Mir, the city’s most famous modern artist.

There is a companion piece at the airport, and together they invite visitors to come by land, sea and air. In the centre of the mosaic in the city center, a makeshift memorial to the victims included flowers, candles and notes, with one reading, “Barcelona weeps but does not surrender.”

Just before a moment of silence for the victims at noon Friday, church bells rang out and people began to move toward the Plaza de Catalua, the central square of Barcelona. There was another makeshift shrine there, where two women, one wearing a hijab and one not, were weeping and holding each other. People nearby chanted in Catalan, “The people together will not be beaten,” and, “We are not afraid.”

The police chief leading the investigation said on Friday that the suspects had planned a devastating assault with explosives and may have rammed pedestrians with vehicles after their initial plan failed.

A large explosion in the early hours of Thursday brought down a building in Alcanar, where police think a group of terrorists had been plotting an attack for some time, Catalan police chief Josep Lluis Trapero told reporters. Deprived of bomb-making material, they then carried out the twin strikes on Barcelona and Cambrils “in a more rudimentary way”.

“The explosion in Alcanar stopped larger attacks from happening because they no longer had some of the material they needed,” Mr Trapero added.

Catalan police also announced on Twitter that they have arrested a fourth person in connection with the attacks, without providing further details.

Police detained a third person earlier on Friday in connection with the attacks, which killed and wounded people from at least 34 countries, when the driver of the van charged down Las Ramblas, a major Barcelona street crowded with pedestrians at the height of the summer holiday season.

A Spaniard and a Moroccan were earlier taken into custody in connection with the Barcelona attack Thursday night. The Moroccan man, identified as Driss Oukabar, was arrested in Ripoll after he walked into a police station and said that his documents had been stolen. A national police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a continuing investigation, said at least three vans had been rented under Driss Oukabar’s name.

The connection to Morocco will no doubt be a focus for authorities: Several of the assailants involved in major terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels were of Moroccan descent or had relatives there.

The Spaniard was detained in Alcanar, south-west of Cambrils, and police were investigating whether he was connected to the explosion Wednesday night, which killed one person and injured several others.

Mr Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan regional president, told Onda Cero radio that there was at least one “terrorist still out there,” AP reported, but it was not clear whether he was referring to the driver of the van.

The authorities said they were looking for a man identified as Moussa Oukabir, who is either 17 or 18 years old; it was not clear if police believe he was the driver. Moussa Oukabir is believed to be the younger brother Driss Oukabar.

As the scope of the attacks began to emerge, perhaps the most troubling aspect was the apparent existence of a terrorist cell that coordinated the assailants’ actions that might, but for an accident while mixing chemicals for explosives, have been far more deadly.

That incident occurred just before midnight in the town of Alcanar, 120 miles southwest of Barcelona, and was first reported as a gas explosion. But as attacks unfolded in Barcelona Thursday afternoon and the resort town of Cambrils after midnight, police soon made the connection to Alcanar.

The attack in Cambrils, about 70 miles south-west of Barcelona, was halted by police only after the driver of a compact Audi A3 rammed his vehicle into a group of pedestrians, Catalan authorities said, according to news accounts. Seven people were injured.

The Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reported that the Audi had run through a security check at the entrance to the town, prompting a police chase. After driving into pedestrians, the five occupants emerged, wielding knives. But police quickly descended, killing all five before they could commit any further mayhem.

The five assailants appeared to be wearing explosive vests, although Catalan police said Friday that the explosives were fake. It has been reported that the Barcelona attack driver could be among five suspects killed in Cambrils.

The IS claimed responsibility for the attack in Barcelona, but there has been no such claim as yet for the events in Cambrils.

At least 80 people were injured in the attack in Barcelona. Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, said in a statement that 26 French were among the wounded, with 11 in serious condition. He also said that he would travel to Barcelona to “visit the French victims of this cowardly act and show France’s support to the Spanish people and authorities.”

The attack was the most recent in a series of assaults in Europe claimed by Islamic extremists, in which assailants used vehicles to kill people in countries fighting the IS.

Police are working on the hypothesis that the five assailants killed in Cambrils could be connected to the events in Barcelona, AFP reported. The AP also reported that the Catalan interior minister, Joaquim Forn, said the events were linked.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany expressed her condolences to the Spanish government and “close solidarity” with the people of Spain “in these difficult hours,” her spokesman said.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain declared three days of mourning, and a moment of silence was held across the country at noon Friday.

President Tony Tan Keng Yam and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote to their Spanish counterparts on Friday to convey their condolences for the Barcelona attack.

In his letter to King Felipe VI, Dr Tan said that he was saddened by the attack.

“Singapore strongly condemns this act of terror on innocent civilians and stands united with Spain in its fight against terrorism. Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families and the people of Spain,” said the President.

PM Lee also wrote to Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy to offer his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the terrorist attack in Barcelona

“Singapore strongly condemns this horrific attack. We are shocked by and deeply saddened to learn of the loss of lives,” he said.

“As Spain mourns the victims, Singapore stands in solidarity with the Spanish people during this difficult time.”

Earlier in the day, a spokesman from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) strongly condemned the Barcelona attack.

“MFA has reached out to Singaporeans who are e-Registered in Barcelona to ascertain their safety. There have been no reports of Singaporeans directly affected by or injured in the incident,” said the spokesman.

“MFA will continue to work with the relevant authorities in Barcelona to monitor the situation closely.” AGENCIES