Barcelona attack: A woman cries in front of a memorial tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday Aug. 19, 2017. Police on Friday shot and killed five people carrying bomb belts who were connected to the Barcelona van attack, as the manhunt intensified for the perpetrators of Europe’s latest rampage claimed by the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios)
Spanish authorities on Saturday said they are maintaining the country’s current terrorist threat alert at level 4, as reported by the Associated Press. Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said the government would reinforce security in crowded areas and tourist hotspots, after a van mowed down people in Barcelona on Thursday, killing at least 13 people including many foreigners from different countries. Another person died after a separate attack in the resort town of Cambrils, where police shot five suspects dead. “We are going to redirect our efforts and will adapt these to every place or area that needs special protection,” Zoido told a news conference.
Zoido also said Spanish authorities considered the cell behind the attacks had been fully dismantled.
Spanish police expanded a manhunt today for a Moroccan national believed to be one of the perpetrators of twin terror attacks in Barcelona and another seaside resort that killed 14 and wounded around 100. With the country in shock after the carnage which saw two men deliberately ploughing vehicles into crowds of pedestrians, Madrid mulled raising the terror alert to the maximum in the world’s third tourism destination.
With investigators working round the clock to identify the network behind the bloodshed, police said they were hunting for 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub without confirming reports he was the driver who ploughed a van into pedestrians in Barcelona on Thursday.
(With inputs from agencies)
