World

Here’s Everything We Know About The Barcelona Attacks

REUTERS/Sergio Perez

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Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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An Islamic State cell carried out two vehicular terrorist attacks in Barcelona Thursday, the worst the country has seen since the bombing of the Madrid subway system in 2004.

The first attack began Thursday afternoon when 18 year old Moussa Oukabir plowed a rented van through a throng of people in a crowded tourist area in Barcelona. Oukabir killed 13 civilians, injuring 100 others and fled on foot. Oukabir is still at large and reportedly used his older brothers identity documents to rent the van.

The second attack occurred early Friday morning in the nearby city of Cambrils when multiple attackers used an Audi A4 to attack pedestrians and a nearby policeman. One woman was killed, multiple others were injured. The attackers exited the vehicle wearing fake suicide belts and were gunned down by Spanish police. Spanish authorities confirmed a single policeman is responsible for killing four of the attackers.

Four arrests have been made in the case including the older brother of Oukabir. Two of the arrested suspects are originally from nearby Morocco and the other is a Spanish national. Authorities believe the original terrorists plan was far more complex than ramming a rented van into pedestrians.

The ISIS cell originally planned on renting a massive commercial truck and filling it with large amounts of explosives. Their plot was foiled after they accidentally blew up explosive stockpile the day before the attack, killing one would-be terrorist. Authorities originally believed the explosion was a gas leak.

The group was also unable to rent the large truck because they did not have the proper license and opted for two large vans instead, Rukmini Callimachi of The New York Times revealed Friday. After losing their stockpile they reverted to a simple vehicular jihadist attack.

Spanish authorities say none of the suspects involved in the case were known to intelligence services as potential jihadists before the attack. Spanish media however reports that the CIA warned the country a potential attack on Barcelona was forthcoming two months ago.

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