Police in Spain have shot and killed five terror suspects in a coastal town south of Barcelona who were reportedly on the verge of executing a second vehicle-based attack.
Following the earlier attack in central Barcelona, which left 13 people dead and scores more injured, five suspects were shot in the town of Cambrils, some 120km south-west of Barcelona.
The suspects were reportedly in an Audi A3 that had mowed down pedestrians in the beachside tourist town, when they encountered police. A spokesman for the Cambrils regional government confirmed that police intercepted the vehicle.
The alleged terrorists were in an Audi A3 and apparently knocked down several people before coming across a police patrol and a shoot-out ensued.
Bystanders and eyewitnesses reported “many gunshots” as police open fired on the suspects, killing four at the scene. A fifth, who was seriously wounded, died a short time later. Seven other people, including one police officer, were injured as a result. One person received critical injuries, and another was seriously injured. The police officer was not seriously hurt.
In #Cambrils police operation underway possibly linked to the attack in #Barcelona. Ppl told to get off the streets. pic.twitter.com/D6JXfAb1jQ
— Kevin Rincon (@KevRincon) August 17, 2017
Police have been tight-lipped about the operation, which began at approximately 1am local time, but they did note that the alleged attackers were wearing what appeared to be explosive belts. Police officials asserted that they were “working on the hypothesis that the terrorists shot dead in Cambrils could be linked to what happened in Barcelona.”
Police have made two arrests in connection to both the attack in Barcelona, and an additional explosion at a house in the north-eastern Spanish town of Alcanar which killed one person and seriously injured another.
The investigation into this latest terror attack remains on-going.
