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13 dead, 50 injured’ in terror attack in the heart of Barcelona, Spain, updates

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A white van suspected of ploughing into pedestrians in Barcelona this afternoon
A white van suspected of ploughing into pedestrians in Barcelona this afternoon

At least 13  people were killed   and 50  were injured after a van rammed through crowds of people in the heart of Barcelona Thursday in an apparent terror attack.

Eyewitnesses reported panic and chaos as the van plowed through crowds in the renowned Las Ramblas avenue, which was teeming at the time with locals and tourists.
The number of casualties is “bound to rise” as some people are in a critical condition, Joaquim Forn, the Catalan interior minister, told a news conference.
Catalan police said that 10 people were seriously injured. They were treating the incident as a terror attack and have sealed off the area.
A graphic showing the sequence of the depraved van attack in Barcelona
A graphic showing the sequence of the depraved van attack in Barcelona

City officials ordered all public events to be canceled, while emergency services requested the closure of metro and train stations in the area.

Reports of the attack first emerged on social media at about 5 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET). About two hours later, police confirmed that Spain had suffered a deadly attack.
It was the latest in a series of attacks in Europe in which vehicles have been used to mow down pedestrians in public spaces.
Catalan police said they were continuing to hunt for the perpetrators and that the force had activated its terror response protocols. Unconfirmed reports suggested the suspects may have been attempting to reach a getaway vehicle.
Local Spanish media earlier reported that two armed men had entered a restaurant.
As the incident unfolded, police told everyone in the vicinity of Plaça de Catalunya and Las Ramblas to remain indoors until told it was safe to go outside. Footage posted to social media by witnesses showed chaotic scenes with people lying in the street, apparently dead or injured.

Witness reports gunshots

One witness told local media the situation was “very tense” and that all surrounding shops were being evacuated. The witness said at least eight ambulances were at the scene. Emergency services said the area had been cordoned off and all public transportation stopped.
Another witness who was hiding in a shop nearby heard gunshots, according to state-run broadcaster TVE24. Another witness said he saw a van driving “around 80 kilometers” per hour, or 50 mph. He said “there is no doubt it was intentional,” according to TVE24.
Tourist Susan McClean told CNN that she saw a “tidal wave” of people running away from Las Ramblas in the aftermath of the incident.
She ducked into a nearby shop and the shutters were pulled down while police sped toward the scene.
“There was clearly a lot of distress,” she told CNN.
McClean said she returned to her hotel just a street away after leaving the shop.
Witness: ‘Lot of distress’

The Catalonian regional government is convening an emergency meeting to discuss the incident, its vice-president, Oriol Junqueras, said in a tweet.
The Catalan emergency services urged people via Twitter to avoid going out or undertaking any other type of movement that is not “strictly necessary” to facilitate police operations.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy tweeted: “In contact with all administrations. Priority: tend to the injured in Las Ramblas and facilitate the work of security forces.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted his condemnation of the attack. “My thoughts are with all those affected. We stand united in the fight against terrorism,” he said.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also tweeted his support, saying: “London stands with Barcelona against the evil of terrorism.”
The US Consulate in Barcelona posted on Twitter: “We are aware of a reported incident at Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Please avoid the area and monitor local police @mossos for updates.”
Las Ramblas is a predominantly pedestrianized street popular among tourists in Barcelona. Extending for about three-quarters of a mile through the center of the city, the tree-lined street is especially crowded in the summer, the height of tourist season.
The promenade passes by kiosks, flower sellers, pavement cafes and bars. It includes a number of the city’s most popular sites.
Barcelona is consistently ranked one of the world’s most visited cities.
CNN

Driss Oukabir
Driss Oukabir
Update
According to police audio recordings, the driver of the van was 1m 70cm tall, dressed in a white top with blue stripes.

Police found a Spanish passport inside the van.
One of the vans used to carry out the murderous rampage at the heart of the city was rented by Driss Oukabir, said to have been a convicted criminal.
Oukabir rented the white Mercedes van in the town of Santa Perpetua de la Mogada, 16 miles north of Barcelona, according to Spanish police.
He was known to police, El Pais reported, and spent time in prison in Figueres, Catalonia, being released in 2012.

Anti-terrorism sources told the newspaper that Oubakir arrived in Barcelona from Morocco on August 13.

Police have been identifying his associates in a bid to work out who was behind the terror attack.

The same sources said Oubakir was known to have spent time in Madrid this year and police were attempting to work out where he stayed and who he met there.

It was not clear if Oukabir was driving the vehicle or in any way involved in the attack.

ISIS claims responsibility

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19 responses to “13 dead, 50 injured’ in terror attack in the heart of Barcelona, Spain, updates”

  1. Arzna Avatar
    Arzna

    “He was known to police, El Pais reported, and spent time in prison in Figueres, Catalonia, being released in 2012.”
    Strange . If he was known to the police why didn’t the police follow the van after it was rented . Obviously the Spanish police dropped the ball after the suspect was released from jail . What a shame

    1. Rudy1947 Avatar
      Rudy1947

      A five year continual investigation on one man? Not likely.

    2. Omega Avatar
      Omega

      Strange indeed. For some reason, they are always known to the police. The case of Manchester, UK wasn’t any different.

      The alleged suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, was part of an extremist group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, that thrived in Manchester and was cultivated and used by MI5 for more than 20 years.

      The LIFG is proscribed by Britain as a terrorist organisation which seeks a “hardline Islamic state” in Libya and “is part of the wider global Islamist extremist movement, as inspired by al-Qaida”.

      The “smoking gun” is that when Theresa May was Home Secretary, LIFG jihadists were allowed to travel unhindered across Europe and encouraged to engage in “battle”: first to remove Mu’ammar Gadaffi in Libya, then to join al-Qaida affiliated groups in Syria.

      …

      In 2011, according to Middle East Eye, the LIFG in Manchester were known as the “Manchester boys”. Implacably opposed to Mu’ammar Gadaffi, they were considered high risk and a number were under Home Office control orders – house arrest – when anti-Gadaffi demonstrations broke out in Libya, a country forged from myriad tribal enmities.

      Suddenly the control orders were lifted. “I was allowed to go, no questions asked,” said one LIFG member. MI5 returned their passports and counter-terrorism police at Heathrow airport were told to let them board their flights.

      https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/05/31/terror-in-britain-what-did-the-prime-minister-know/

  2. Sex & Chocolate Avatar
    Sex & Chocolate

    Ugly from the inside ugly from the outside, no good hearted peaceful human being would ever find appeal in the teachings and values of this evil group, in a nut shell cowards that target innocence!

    1. Hind Abyad Avatar
      Hind Abyad

      They don’t target innocents Sex and Jocolate

  3. Rascal Avatar
    Rascal

    Really, WTF is wrong with the teachings of islam that it turns so many into psycotic killers and mass murderers?
    Muslim seriously need to clean their own house very soon. Maybe a “new testament” Quran is in order?

    1. Niemals Avatar
      Niemals

      Forget any “new testament” Quran.
      Niemals any new Quran without Sharia laws…

    2. Omega Avatar
      Omega

      Drop your silly propaganda. This has nothing to do with the teaching of Islam or Muslims as a whole.

      1. Rascal Avatar
        Rascal

        Allah Akbar………Boom!!!

        1. Hind Abyad Avatar
          Hind Abyad

          It’s Salafist Saudi Arabia
          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f51f43e1496d611d6ac414a4d7d322fe91148351848f9f0e86171fa1da89aa5e.jpg
          Israel hates Sarsour
          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1c2028b04b15876fe4f479688cdc5d9b39912b0d20becf260703337084072e3c.jpg

        2. Omega Avatar
          Omega

          You forgot the “u”. Allahu Akbar.

          They must have learned the “Boom!!!” part from the Zionists:

          There is no room here to mention all of the activities for which these organizations took responsibility, but here are a few typical cases:

          On 4.11.1937 – five dead and eight wounded in shooting at a bus in the Jerusalem suburb of Romema; 16.7.38 – 10 killed and three wounded including four women, a boy and young girl, by a bomb hidden in a basket of vegetables; 26.7.38 – 27 killed and 46 wounded when a bomb exploded in Haifa’s Arab market; 29.5.39 – five killed and 18 wounded when mines were detonated in the Rex Cinema in Jerusalem, and among the seriously wounded were a Jewish man and woman; 20.6.39 – 78 killed by a bomb in the Haifa vegetable market.

          And we have not mentioned the best known incidents – the explosion at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the massacre at Dir Yassin, the executions of Jews who were suspected of cooperating with the foreign occupier (at least 10 cases ), and the assassinations of some of the representatives of His Majesty’s government and of the international community in the region or in the country.

          From the end of 1937 until the middle of 1939, in less than two years, the terrorist activities of the Irgun and Lehi claimed 232 victims with another 370 wounded – men, women and children. All of this was detailed in the semi-official book, that was republished in 1981 with the assistance of the Defense Ministry.

          I had difficulty calculating the exact number of the hundreds of fatalities from the period of terror between 1946 and 1948. Anyone interested in the figures can find them in the book and do the calculations themselves.

          http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/are-begin-and-shamir-also-considered-terrorists-1.369342?v=8ED695E896AC57A8C86E67F0EFE08378

      2. Rascal Avatar
        Rascal

        You are diluted. Islam is a retrograde ideology that evidently has a negative effect on every country it infects. Due to the amount of sects within the Islam cult, the barbarity and backwards mentality varies, but it is undeniable that Islam has a sizable percentage of followers that display extreme violence to further their religious agenda depending on which sect of the cult they follow.
        Sharia law anyone? Please spare me your denial.

        1. Niemals Avatar
          Niemals

          NIEMALS https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5afb9bb225887808bcb71a5431ad96f3ba760a768ac139a51e8abbe55cfdb0ce.jpg NIEMALS!

        2. Omega Avatar
          Omega

          By now, it is obvious that you are here to demonize Islam and Muslims. Your comments reflect so. The question is: what is your real underlying motive. Rethorically, doesn’t it have anything to do with Israel? Before I continue addressing your comment, here are some facts for you:

          • Islam is a religion (not an ideology) practiced/followed by more than a billion people on Earth.

          • 90% of Muslims live in countries where the Sharia Law is not practiced.

          • Wahhabism/Salafism is rejected by 90% of Muslims on Earth.

          • In 638CE, a Treaty of Peace was signed in Jerusalem between all three religions (Brothers of the snook) to live in peace and harmony.

          • In the 1600s, the Ottomans restored the right for Jews to practice their religion.

          • In the late 1800s-early 1900s, the Palestinians hosted Jews who were persecuted in Europe and Eastern Europe. As a result, the population of Jews went from 1% to 7% in Palestine.

          That being said, what countries has Islam infected? Why are you purposely lying and mixing the migration of Muslim refugees in Europe with “Islam infecting countries”? Rethorically (again), do you realize the migration is done legally and with the consent of governments?

          Lastly, why do you omit the West’s decades-long bombing in the Middle East? Do you really expect Muslims to love the West after what is has done to them? Man up and get real. What about the West colluding with the so-called “Muslim terrorist”?

    3. Hind Abyad Avatar
      Hind Abyad

      Do not amalgamate ALL Moslems, it’s a sign of ignorance

  4. Niemals Avatar
    Niemals

    ISIS confession isn’t any proof that it was ISIS.

  5. Danny Farah Avatar
    Danny Farah

    Spain been taking these people lightly and they need to do massive crackdown on any bearded man period. Go to the mosques and spy on them. Hunt these animals down and don’t let them breathe and burn them until the last khalifas of them. Those cowards and the enemy of God must be dealt with harshly.

  6. Omega Avatar
    Omega

    Europe is lost’: Barcelona’s chief rabbi urges Jews to move to Israel

    “I tell my congregants: Don’t think we’re here for good, and I encourage them to buy property in Israel,” Rabbi Meir Bar-Hen said in an interview with Jewish news agency JTA.

    https://www.rt.com/news/400265-barcelona-rabbi-tells-jews-move-to-israel/

    Yes, my congregants, go to IsraHell and steal/occupy more lands from those pesky Palestinians who have inhabited the land for thousands of years ago.

    —–

    It sort of rings a bell with a video-animation made by a pro-Israel group …

    https://vimeo.com/168881852

    http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/israeli-propagandists-threaten-destruction-europe-punishment-boycotting-israel

    Also, let’s not forget Mileikowsky’s (aka Netanyahu recent mic audio leak…

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a blistering attack against the European Union (EU) describing its treatment of the Jewish state as crazy and self-defeating. “We have a peculiar situation. The European Union is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel

    http://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/leaked-audio-what-israeli-pm-benjamin-netanyahu-said-about-pm-narendra-modi-hot-mic-talks-accidentally-get-broadcast/775371/

  7. man-o-war Avatar
    man-o-war

    These are ignorant backwards desperate people that commit these crimes, good law abiding Muslims denounce this type of behavior. Thank god the majority of the worlds Muslims reject this barbarianism. The European countries need to step up their game and make sure every rat that went anywhere near Syria, Libya, or Iraq is interrogated and monitored. Or better yet, don’t allow them to return, forfeit of legal residency/citizenship.

    I don’t care what that they feel Muslims are under attack and this is their retaliation. It’s never ok to attack innocent people.

    All of you Islamophobes need to take a step back and realize that all religions have an ugly side. No difference here to what Christian extremist do and have done. Abortion clinic attacks for example. Even Buddhist have an evil side.

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