Spain terror attacks: Suspects were planning bigger strike, say Catalonia police

Barcelona: Suspects in Spain’s deadly twin terror attacks were preparing an even bigger assault but were thwarted in their plans and forced to act in a “more rudimentary” way, police said on Friday. Catalonia police spokesman Josep Lluis Trapero added that a driver who mowed down crowds of pedestrians in the first attack in a busy Barcelona street on Thursday could be among five suspects later shot dead in a nearby city. [caption id=“attachment_3942905” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Police officers cordon off a street in Barcelona, Spain. AP[/caption] “They were preparing one or several attacks in Barcelona and an explosion in Alcanar stopped this as they no longer had the material they needed to commit attacks of an even bigger scope,” he told reporters. He was referring to a blast in a house in the town of Alcanar on Wednesday evening. Police believe the explosion, which killed one person and injured seven others, was caused on an attempt to make explosive devices. Trapero said that after this, the suspects — who formed part of a cell — allegedly went on to commit “more rudimentary” attacks. These involved vehicles ploughing into pedestrians in Barcelona and then again in the seaside city of Cambrils some eight hours later. At least 14 people were killed and some 100 others were injured. Police shot dead five “alleged terrorists” in Cambrils, but not before they had injured seven people, one of whom later died of her wounds. “The alleged terrorists in Cambrils had an axe and knives in the car as well as fake explosive belts stuck to their bodies,” police in Catalonia tweeted. Asked if the van driver in the first attack was among the five killed, Trapero said “the investigation points in this direction”. But while there were “clues” that this was the case there was no “concrete proof”, he added. Three out of the five suspects shot dead have been identified, he added, without giving further details. So far, authorities have arrested four suspects, including three Moroccans and a Spaniard, none of whom had a criminal record related to “terrorism”, police said.