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Spanish police confirm Barcelona attacker shot dead

Monday, 21 August 2017 5:57 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 23 August 2017 11:49 AM ]

Vans are parked along a road near the place where Younes Abouyaaqoub was killed by police in Sant Sadurni d'Noia, Spain, August 21, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Spanish police say they have killed the driver of a van that rammed into a group of pedestrians in Barcelona last week and claimed 13 lives.

"We confirm that the person shot down in the incident in Subirats (near Barcelona) is Younes Abouyaaqoub, the perpetrator of the terrorist attack in Barcelona," police in Catalonia tweeted on Monday.

Regional police noted that Abouyaaqoub was wearing what appeared to be an explosives belt before being shot in Subirats.

Policemen and medical staff stand at the site where Moroccan suspect Younes Abouyaaqoub was shot dead on August 21, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The 22-year-old Moroccan is believed to be the last of a 12-member cell linked to last week’s twin attacks in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils. Other members of the ring have been killed or detained by police forces during the manhunt.

On Thursday, a van rammed into a multitude of people on Rambla avenue in the center of Barcelona, killing at least 13 and injuring some 100 others. The driver fled the scene after the attack.

The vehicle traveled several hundred meters, running over pedestrians and cyclists on its way, before stopping at a decorative mosaic near a subway station.

Younes Abouyaaqoub, the 22-year-old driver of the van involved in the deadly Barcelona attack

In the early hours of Friday morning, in the town of Cambrils, 100 kilometers away from Barcelona, five terrorists drove into pedestrians before being shot dead by security forces.

One of the pedestrians died and six others sustained injuries in the second attack.

The five assailants, who were wearing explosive vests, were then shot dead, police said. The bomb vests were detonated by the force’s bomb squad.

The Daesh Takfiri terror group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The Barcelona incident was the deadliest attack in Spain since March 2004, when Takfiri militants bombed commuter trains in Madrid, killing over 190 people and wounding more than 1,800.

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