Terrorist attack in Barcelona

BARCELONA Victims of a van rampage in Barcelona that left 13 people dead and around 100 others injured were of at least 18 different nationalities, Spain’s civil protection agency said Friday.

A spokesman said that among the victims in the popular seaside city were nationals from France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Argentina, Venezuela, Belgium, Australia, Hungary, Peru, Romania, Ireland, Greece, Cuba, Macedonia, China, Italy and Algeria — without detailing whether he was referring to those who died or were injured.

A van driver ploughed into crowds of pedestrians on Barcelona’s most popular street in broad daylight on Thursday, killing 13 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Police announced the arrest of two suspects, identified as a Spaniard and a Moroccan, but said the driver was still on the run.

Witnesses told of scenes of chaos and horror, with bodies strewn along the famous boulevard as other people fled for their lives, screaming in panic.

The rampage in a city hugely popular with tourists from around the world is the latest in a wave of attacks in Europe where vehicles have been used as weapons of terror.

As world leaders united in condemning the carnage, the IS propaganda agency Amaq claimed that it was carried out by “soldiers” from the jihadist group.

Regional interior minister Joaquim Forn said 13 people had died and another 100 were injured in what police were treating as a “terrorist attack”, warning that the death toll could rise further.

Las Ramblas is one of Barcelona’s busiest streets, lined with shops and restaurants and normally packed with tourists and street performers until well into the night.

Footage broadcast on Spanish television showed a white van, its front completely crushed, abandoned by its driver on a road surrounded by police cars.

Spain had until now been spared the kind of extremist violence that has rocked nearby France, Belgium and Germany.

But it was hit by what is still Europe’s deadliest jihadist attack in March 2004, when bombs exploded on commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people in an attack claimed by Al Qaeda-inspired extremists.

Police said Thursday that one of the arrested suspects was a Spaniard born in Melilla, a Spanish territory on Morocco’s north coast, and the other a Moroccan named as Driss Oukabir.

The Spaniard was arrested in Alcanar, about 200 kilometres south of Barcelona, the scene of an explosion in a house late Wednesday that left one person dead and is believed to be linked to Thursday’s assault.

In another incident Thursday, police shot at a vehicle that forced its way through a roadblock in Barcelona after the van attack, knocking down two officers.

Thursday’s attack drew condemnation from across the globe.

Spain’s royal family vowed that their country would not be “terrorised” by extremists.

US President Donald Trump condemned the “terror attack” and said the Unied States will do whatever is necessary to help”, adding: “Be tough & strong, we love you!”

France’s President Emmanuel Macron — whose country has witnessed a series of bloody jihadist atrocities including a truck rampage in Nice in July 2016 that killed 86 people — said his thoughts were with the victims of the “tragic attack”.

A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the “revolting attack” and British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Twitter that London “stands with Spain against terror”.

The Nice carnage and other assaults including the 2015 shootings and bombings on Paris nightspots were claimed by the Islamic State, but it is believed to be the first IS claim of an attack in Spain.

Spain has emerged as a potential target for jihadists, with extremist websites mentioning it for historical reasons, since much of its territory was once under Muslim rule.

Catalonia has the highest concentration of radicalised Islamists in the country along with Madrid and the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Morocco.

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