GUILTY Spain - Van plows into city center in Barcelona, injuries reported in "massive crash", Aug 2017

[margarita25]

Twin terror attacks in Spain: The victims

"An engineer killed in front of his girlfriend, a dad who protected his kids, an American celebrating his anniversary."

http://news.sky.com/story/twin-terror-attacks-in-spain-the-victims-10995116

 

[margarita25]

How a dozen young men from a small town secretly plotted the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain in more than a decade
https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...0fa8d7a0db6_story.html?utm_term=.c5c7b89f86a8

"At the center of the mystery here: How did a dozen young men from a small town — some friends since childhood — come together to plot in secret and carry out the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain in more than a decade, considering some were barely old enough to drive and most still lived with their parents."

Snip

"Parents of the young men here told The Washington Post they fear their sons were radicalized by a visiting cleric who spent the last months praying, preaching — and possibly brainwashing gullible youngsters who spoke better Spanish than Arabic."

Snip

"Some questioned how the young men could have organized themselves. “Who is behind all this? Who is the big fish?” said Rashid Oukabir, a cousin of 17-year-old Moussa Oukabir, a member of the cell who was killed by police after their car rammed officers.

“It’s impossible these kids did all of this on their own,” he said. “Who helped them?”"

 

[margarita25]

"Aallaa told The Post that he believed Youssef may have been radicalized by an imam in Ripoll, where a generation ago the first Moroccans came to work in the forests cutting trees or in the fields harvesting crops.

Aallaa said he did not know the cleric’s name."

Snip

"Hafida said the tightknit Moroccan community, especially the families, are now focusing on who may have radicalized the youths.

“What I think happened is that someone must have brainwashed them,” she said. “Do you really believe a 17- or 18-year-old, who was born here and grew up here, would think about killing people? No, no — somebody must have played with their minds and used them.”"

Snip

"There also was graffiti spray-painted near one of the mosques that read “Moors out!’ — a reference to Moroccan immigrants.

Over the past two days, stickers also appeared on street signs reading “enough Islamization” with a picture of a mosque and a line drawn across it.

Irene Payet, 64, lives in the same building as the Aallaa family. She is also a local politician. Payet said she believes the Moroccan immigrants are coddled by the government, given rights and benefits they have not earned.

“These people, they are radicals, so I am not surprised they do this,” she said. “These people should be pushed aside. They are not ready to live in our society.”

Payet gestured toward the floors above her apartment.

“I’m sleeping with the enemy,” she said.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...0fa8d7a0db6_story.html?utm_term=.c5c7b89f86a8

 

[ZaZara]

Hold my beer while I do some math:

The house in Alcanar is around 300 kms and 3 hours by car from Ripoll.
Back to Ripoll from Alcanar is the same 300 kms / 3 hours by car.
Six hours travelling time if you want to return home on the same day.

The members of the terror cell had occupied the house in Alcanar and had been active there since 6 months. The neighbours tell that they came en went. The house was lived in.

The members of the group had day jobs, or they were studying in school.
At least one of them, Moussa, was preparing his exams, which he passed with good grades.

The families noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Nor did anyone at the workplace.

Something is not adding up here, because how did they manage to slip away to Alcanar, be visible and active there while nothing changed in the eyes of their relatives?

It is possible to lead a double life, but it is difficult if not next to impossible to lead two separate lives simultaneously at a distance of 300 kms. And never tell anyone or let nothing slip.

These stories of the relatives Ripoll and of the neighbours in Alcanar almost give the impression that there were in fact two groups: those who went about their lives as usual in Ripoll and a group of Arabs squatting in a house in Alcanar.

But they are the same. I wonder how they pulled that off, I wonder where the money came from for all these trips, because something doesn't add up.


:thinking:

 

[ZaZara]

"Aallaa told The Post that he believed Youssef may have been radicalized by an imam in Ripoll, where a generation ago the first Moroccans came to work in the forests cutting trees or in the fields harvesting crops.

Aallaa said he did not know the cleric’s name."

Snip

"Hafida said the tightknit Moroccan community, especially the families, are now focusing on who may have radicalized the youths.

“What I think happened is that someone must have brainwashed them,” she said. “Do you really believe a 17- or 18-year-old, who was born here and grew up here, would think about killing people? No, no — somebody must have played with their minds and used them.”"

RSBM & BBM


Even 17 and 18 year olds can play an active role in their own radicalization and they build upon the concepts that they have learned in their islamic education.

So I wholeheartedly believe that 17 or 18 year olds would think about killing people, especially the non-believers. As was the case here.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-and-scares-worldwide&p=13537223#post13537223

From a study recently published in Austria:

1.The role of religion in the process of radicalization

The results of the study show that the interviewed persons actively participate in their radicalization process with content, norms and standardsand values of the Islamic doctrine.

This intensive examination of theological issues is for many respondents
a turning point in their lives, a turning point that is rated as a positive by the majority.

The majority of the interviewees came from believing Muslim parental homes, and already had knowledge of the foundations of Islam prior to contact with Islamic theology. The assumption in the social discourse that radicalized persons mainly possess a small knowledge of religion has not been confirmed in the study.

 

[ZaZara]

THREE EARS WERE FOUND IN THE RUBBLE OF THE HOUSE IN ALCANAR

ElConfidencial
http://www.elconfidencialdigital.co...inara-yihadista-desactivada_0_2987701205.html


Ever since the highest commissioner of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Josep Lluís Trapero, recognized the relationship between the Alcanar explosion and the Barcelona and Cambrils bombings, the priority has been to determine how many people were in the house at the time of the outbreak.

In the first reports there were mentions of a wounded man, Mohamed Houli Chemlal, who, after passing through the hospital, was arrested; and of a deceased person. However, new biological remains found last Saturday indicate the possibility that there were up to three more people in the house when the gas cylinders exploded.

Okay so. According to the information services, who confirmed this to ECD, these human remains are "three ears", indicating that at least two more people died in Alcanar last night. The analysis of their DNA has become "the top priority" to determine if one of them is the Ripoll imam.

Abdelbaki Es Satty, 45, is considered the "brain" behind the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils and the leader of the jihadist cell that carried out the attacks. According to police information, it was he who radicalized the rest of the members of the cell, and prepared them for the massacre last Thursday.

So, confirming that the imam is one of Alcanar's deceased "is fundamental" to know if, indeed, the cell is disjointed or, conversely, "we have to be on high alert."

In that sense, sources consulted by ECD explain that, following the arrests and deaths of the five terrorists in Cambrils, the jihadist cell "hangs in the balance", but it will not be deactivated if Es Satty is not one of the deceased of Alcanar and continues in unknown whereabouts.

The Ripoll imam, if he remains alive, "can perfectly activate other radicals, maintain the cell and perpetrate new attacks." In addition, he can also contact Younes Abouyaaqoub, the fleeing terrorist, to give him new instructions.

This last scenario is precisely the one that worries the information services most: "Abouyaaqoub has been on the run since Thursday and is desperate. If Es Satty lives, he will do what he asks, even set himself on fire in a new attack, to end the nightmare he has been living the last days. "

Otherwise, if the imam is dead, the young man on the run "will be without guidance" and will therefore become more vulnerable: "He may try to leave the country or resort to common delinquency, but in both cases it will be easier that he makes a mistake".

Waiting to see the results of the DNA, the information services are "combing" the relatives and friends of Es Satty and Abouyaaqoub to find out what they did in the last hours before the attack and if they have been in contact with their nearest environment after the attacks of Barcelona and Cambrils.


BBM


Did not see that one coming ...... IMHO the reporter seems flabbergasted about it too.

:crosseyed:

 

[Livness]

I apologise for posting a Daily Mail link, but:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4806658/Pictured-soldier-gunned-jihadis-Cambrils.html

I just think this officer deserves some more recognition.

"The married officer, who is not being identified for his own protection, served with the Spanish army's elite infantry unit the Legion and was working overtime when the attack started."

"El Mundo newspaper described the officer as being 'very quiet, not the Rambo prototype of an elite officer'.He is married with children, and was only on duty because he was working overtime to earn some extra money for his family."







"He is now undergoing counselling with a psychologist following his ordeal in the early hours of Friday morning."

---

I have always been very laid-back regarding the routine arming of police in the UK. In all honesty, though, I would be very very surprised if we do not hear a lot more over routinely arming UK police officers too.

 

[dotr]

Where are the fathers of these young terrorists?
http://cnews.canoe.com/CNEWS/World/2017/08/20/22746730.html

Over 100 gas tanks found as extremists in Spain planned massive attack

Catalan authorities have not released the names of those killed, but Spanish media have reported widely that at least three sets of brothers were among the cell’s alleged members.

Brothers radicalizing together are a common theme among extremists. They share unbreakable bonds, an ability to keep secrets, and an airtight communication channel. A pair of brothers carried out suicide bombings in March 2016 in Brussels. Two brothers gunned down the staff members of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris in January 2015. Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who bombed the Boston Marathon in 2013, were brothers originally from Chechnya.

rbbm.

 

[gregjrichards]

Where are the fathers of these young terrorists?
http://cnews.canoe.com/CNEWS/World/2017/08/20/22746730.html

rbbm.

From what I've read about these attackers in the numerous attacks most often they don't have fathers involved in their lives. I don't know if this makes them easier to radicalise.

 

[ZaZara]

"THEIR RADICALIZATION WASN'T FAST AT ALL, THEY HAD BEEN MEETING WITH THE IMAM FOR AT LEAST A YEAR"

ElPais
https://politica.elpais.com/politica/2017/08/21/actualidad/1503309520_448121.html

According to a cousin of two of the participants in the attacks last Thursday, in which 14 people died and more than 80 were injured, the idea "that the radicalization of the boys was fast is a lie." The young man requests that his name not be made public and explains that "for at least a year the imam met with some of them outside of the mosque".

He claims that imam Abdelbaki Es Satty frequently met in his van with Mohamed Hichamy, his brother Omar, Moussa Oukabir and Youssef Aalla. "They were inside the van and stayed there for two hours or more. If someone was walking by, they would shut up and start looking at the mobiles."

For a year, according to this relative, the terrorists met with the imam in an extremely discreet way. "If they happened to see one another somewhere other than the van - in the mosque or in the street - they greeted each other as if they were strangers. Salam aleikoum and that was all "

The young man said that it was last June, during Ramadan, when "they lost their fear of dying".

"I think that was when they already knew what they were going to do. From that moment they began to behave in a very affectionate way with their mothers and with the family, were much at home and always attentive to their relatives. The mother had any problems and they would be there in a second to help."

A behavior already observed in many radicalized young Muslims before they carry out an attack.


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

Goodday all, I hope you are doing fine and thank you for your contributions and interest in this subject. Stay safe!

A lot has been said about the young age of the jihadists, but iMHO age is just a number and this applies also to young religious murderers.

This morning a very worrying report was published. This is about a school in Belgium, but IMHO this is problably not limited to Belgium and in fact we would be lucky if it was.

Belgium, like Catalonia, has a huge problem with Salafism, and the Belgians monitor their schools and give them support te prevent radicalization.

Signs of radicalization are now appearing in very young children in Kindergarten in Ronse, a small town between Brussels and the border with France.

Nieuwsblad.be
http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20170821_03027274

In a school in Ronse, teachers raise the alarm because even children seem to be under the influence of an extremist faction within Islam. This is stated in an internal report that Het Laatste Nieuws has seen.

Schools work hard to fight radicalization. The 'Network Islamexperts' has opened 481 files for schools with questions and problems since the start of the project in 2016. But it is the first time that children at such an early age already show signs of starting radicalization.

The internal report of the kindergarten in Ronse describes problematic behavior of children. For example, quoting of Arabic verses from the Quran during the playtime, not coming to school because our school vision does not fit with their beliefs, not coming to school for religious reasons on Friday, a toddler who already has a friend in Morocco whom she will marry later, a girl who refuses to give a boy a hand and stand next in line to a boy.

But there is more. The report also mentions "murder threats by a child uttered to unbelievers" and "calling other children pigs" and making movements with their finger along the throat. In conversations with the parents it is established that these support their child and smile about it," it is heard.


BBM


It is claimed that nobody is born hating others, but we should be very concerned about what happens after birth, and not assume that this is all baby talk and innocence.

Education used to be a corner stone for integration, and it apparently no longer is. Salafism actively promotes hatred of those outside the religion of peace and they are doing so with increasing success.

I hope this school turns out to be the exception, but i fear the opposite is the case. IMHO we should replace the "they were so young, what do they know about the world" with "they are so young, what are they capable of?"

In the case of the Ripoll youngsters, their actions speak louder than numbers or words.

 

[ZaZara]

PAU PÉREZ, VICTIM NUMBER 15 OF THE ATTACKS IN CATALONIA

The young man died of the stabbing by of one of the terrorists during his flight


ElPais
https://elpais.com/ccaa/2017/08/20/catalunya/1503259899_510703.html?id_externo_rsoc=TW_CM


Pau Pérez, whose stabbed corpse was found inside the car that bypassed a police checkpoint outside Barcelona on Thursday, is the deadly victim number 15 of the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils.

The chief commissioner of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Josep Lluís Trapero has confirmed these conclusions in a press conference on Monday. Younes Abouyaaqoub arrived "running and walking" to the university area, where he stole the car in which the young Pau Perez traveled.

Perez was 34 years old and lived in Vilafranca del Penedès. He worked in Barcelona in a major wine company, had cooperated in several NGOs and, passionate about football, had played in the club of his municipality, FC Vilafranca. He often came to the Fundació Esportiva Atlètic de Vilafranca, the hang-out of footballers in his club.

He had returned to Vilafranca before seven o'clock in the afternoon in his Ford Focus when someone assaulted him, stabbed him and got behind the wheel. At 19.45 on Thursday, the Ford Focus skipped a police checkpoint on Diagonal Avenue, breaking a Catalan police officer's leg. The Mossos fired at the car, but it managed to pass and ended up parked two miles further on in Sant Just Desvern. The driver, who fled, left Pau's body in the backseat.


BBM


:rose: RIP Pau Pérez. May your memory be a blessing

 

[ZaZara]

"HE CAME ASKING FOR WORK BUT DISAPPEARED WHEN WE ASKED HIM FOR HIS CRIMINAL RECORD"


ElPais
https://elpais.com/internacional/2017/08/20/actualidad/1503255462_072896.html

Abdelbaki Es Satty, the Ripoll imam, applied for work in Belgium, but was rejected after he refused to provide a document stating that he had no criminal record. Mimoun Aquichouh, the imam of the main mosque in Vilvoorde, a Flemish town located about 12 kilometers from Brussels, has confirmed this to EL PAÍS on Sunday evening.

According to the account of the Belgian imam, the religious man of Ripoll, one of the alleged brains of the terrorist attacks in Catalonia, visited the mosque of the neighboring town of Diegem to request employment. "He said that he came from Spain and in the mosque they told him that in order to give him the work it was necessary that he bring a certificate of criminal history. We can say that he avoided delivering the paper, dodging the issue. He said that it was not necessary, why did we not trust him... " In response to this suspicious attitude, the mosque official spoke to the police, and since then he has not reappeared," he explains. The Ripoll imam would not have been able to provide a clean certificate of offenses, since he was arrested several times, one of them in 2010 in Ceuta, when he was carrying 12 kilos of hashish.

The Imam of Diegem, who had personal contact with the alleged terrorist leader, is on holiday in Morocco, but he is the family of his counterpart in Vilvoorde, so they were in contact by telephone after the picture of Abdelbaki Es Satty was published. "He confirmed that that was the one who had asked for a job," says Aquichouh. The demand for a certificate of good behaviour was not accidental. "We do not usually ask for it. If we requested it then, it was because we saw something in him or in his language that we did not like," he clarified.

The police are trying to shed light on the international connections of the Ripoll imam. At the moment it is not clear if during his trips to Belgium he came in contact with other radicalized persons. The cleric had expressed his intention to move to the country, and the security forces try to clarify his reasons for the move. The Belgian prosecutor has confirmed to this newspaper that their investigations have proved that the imam of Ripoll was in Belgium, but declare that he was not on file for any crime.

Vilvoorde Mayor Hans Bonte revealed on Sunday that the Ripoll imam was in the city between January and March of last year - accidentally shortly before the 22-M attacks on the metro and Brussels airport. It was not known if he had a fixed address.


BBM


:thinking:

 

[ZaZara]

"SOLID INDICATIONS THAT THE IMAM OF RIPOLL DIED IN THE HOUSE IN ALCANAR"

LaRazón.es
http://www.larazon.es/espana/los-mo...el-iman-de-ripoll-murio-en-alcanar-MP15830048

The Chief Commissioner of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Josep Lluis Trapero, announced today that the Catalan police has "very relevant and solid indications" that one of the at least two terrorists killed in the explosion of his house in Alcanar (Tarragona) Is the imam of Ripoll (Girona) Abdelbaki Es Satty.

At a press conference, Trapero has indicated that the main hypothesis of the investigators is that the imam played a key role in the radicalization of the other eleven members of the cell that last week perpetrated the attacks of Barcelona and Cambrils (Tarragona). Fifteen persons died in the attacks.

The Mossos d'Esquadra are waiting for the DNA analysis of the remains of at least two people found in the Alcanar house that exploded into the air on the night of Wednesday, August 16, when terrorists prepared their explosives. These results may confirm definitively that the imam of Ripoll is one of the deceased in this house.

However, Trapero has insisted that the investigators already have "very relevant and solid" clues indicatings that the imam died in the house, varying from the reports of witnesses and of documents that placed him in that house on the night of the explosion.

"There are three or four elements that indicate that the imam was in the house of Alcanar that night," said the mayor, who did not want to confirm if the van of the religious man has been located in the area. He confirmed that vehicles of the cell members have been found recently, and that these are being analyzed.

According to the Chief Commissioner, the information of the investigators pointed out that the Ripoll imam had a key role in radicalizing the eleven other members of the cell, all much younger than him. One of them, the author of the Barcelona attack, Younes Aboyaaqoub remains on the run.

Trapero indicated that the information that can be provided from the international agencies could help to clarify the role of the imam in the cell and his connections with other countries.


BBM


IMHO given his low-key profile, imam Abdelbaki Es Satty was probably a mole, a deep cover agent of sorts. I wonder if he radicalized in prison, or if he radicalized others there. LE all over Europe need to take a long hard look at his history.

Meanwhile, Younes Aboyaaqoub may have simply gone into hiding with friends in the area.

 

[ZaZara]

[video=twitter;899641665312391169]https://twitter.com/24h_tve/status/899641665312391169[/video]


BREAKING: Younes Abouyaaqoub arrested in Subirats, Barcelona

more later


BBM


:happydance:

 

[ZaZara]

LaVanguardia
http://www.lavanguardia.com/politic...sociales&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

The Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested the material author of the Barcelona bombing, Younes Abouyaaquoub. The one who until now was the man most wanted by the police, has been arrested in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia.

Catalan police have confirmed that there is an "open incident" in Subirats (Alt Penedès) on their Twitter account.


BBM


Subirats and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia are in the same area.


Other sources reporting that Younes Abouyaaquoub was shot dead:

Público.es
http://www.publico.es/sociedad/abatido-subirats-autor-del-atentado-ramblas-younes-abouyaaqoub.html


Younes Abouyaaqoub, who the Mossos have identified as the driver of the van that committed the massacre on the Ramblas, has been killed by police Monday in the town of Subirats, as to Efe by sources from the antiterror service

The Mossos D'Esquadra have carried out an operation in that area, where they have killed the most wanted terrorist of recent days. He was carrying a belt of explosives, although it is not yet known whether that was real or false.


BBM

 

[dotr]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/barcelona-attack-younes-abouyaaqoub-latest-las-ramblas-van-kill-13-people-spain-catalan-age-22-a7905111.html

Reports of the arrest, made by Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, came amid an incident in the town of Subirats in the west of Catalonia where a man wearing a suicide belt was reportedly shot down.

 

[ZaZara]

Very confusing news, Younes Abouyaaquoub has either been shot or only arrested.

He would be wearing a belt with explosives and if the Mossos are still trying to find out if these are real, then he is probably dead, else BOOM if the belt is real.



Official tweet from the Mossos;

[video=twitter;899649987100987393]https://twitter.com/mossos/status/899649987100987393[/video]

17:05 The suspicious person #Subirats has attached to the body what looks like a belt of explosives. The individual has been shot down


BBM

 

[ZaZara]

LaVanguardia, liveblog
http://www.lavanguardia.com/sucesos/20170821/43615352259/atentado-barcelona-ultima-hora.html




17.10 BREAKING: The terrorist carries a belt on his body that looks like explosives. Younes has been shot down. The verification by the Tedax is expected before anyone is able to approach the body.


BBM


TEDAX are the explosives experts.

 

[ZaZara]

LaVanguardia, liveblog
http://www.lavanguardia.com/sucesos/20170821/43615352259/atentado-barcelona-ultima-hora.html

A local woman had alerted the authorities and when he had been located, he was wearing what looked like a belt of explosives. The man has been shot down but the operation has not been completed and the Tedax must rule out any danger of explosion.

The same sources explain that the man who was shot down entrusted himself to Allah before being fired at and say that he has attached to the body "what looks like a belt of explosives", whose authenticity the Tedax are checking the Tedax since 17 hrs

Tedax is using a robot to get nearer to the body.

BREAKING: Teadax has removed the belt from the body


BBM