Spain kills main suspect in terrorist car crash

Spanish police shot dead Younes Abouyaaqoub, the main suspect in the terrorist van attack in Barcelona that killed 13 people.

Suspect Younes Abouyaaqoub. Photo: Spanish Interior Ministry/Reuters.

"We confirm that Younes Abouyaaqoub was shot dead in Subirats," the Catalan regional police wrote on Twitter on August 21, according to AFP.

Abouyaaqoub, 22, has been wanted by Spanish police since the evening of August 17, after he drove a truck into pedestrians on Las Ramblas, Barcelona, ​​Catalonia, killing 13 people and injuring more than 100. He fled the scene, hijacked a car and stabbed the driver to death.

Police received two tips about Abouyaaqoub, a station patrol officer and an individual. They saw the suspect covered up despite the hot weather.

"The suspect took off his shirt and he appeared to be wearing what looked like an explosive belt. Police drew their weapons and shot the suspect dead," said Josep Lluis Trapero, Catalonia's police chief. Abouyaaqoub was holding a knife and shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is great). The explosive belt was determined to be fake.

Cristiano Pecchi, an Italian tourist, said he heard gunshots at around 4 p.m. Shortly after, 30 police cars, helicopters and ambulances appeared.

Abouyaaqoub, a Moroccan, was the last member of a 12-man cell suspected of being behind the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and the coastal resort town of Cambrils last week, which killed a total of 15 people. The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Of the remaining 11, five were shot dead by police hours after the car crash, two were killed and one was injured while making explosives at a house in the town of Alcanar earlier, and three were arrested by police.

Location of the town of Cambrils and the city of Barcelona, ​​Spain. Graphics: BBC.

According to VNE