A massive manhunt is under way in Spain for the man suspected of killing 13 people and injuring dozens more by driving a van at the crowds of people on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas on Thursday.
After hitting dozens of people in the popular tourist area of the Catalan capital, the suspected, fled the scene on foot and has gone into hiding.
Police are hunting 18-year-old Moroccan-born Moussa Oubakir, who is believed to have used his brother’s documents to rent the van. After seeing his face on the news, Oubakir’s brother Driss handed himself in to police and is helping them in their enquiries.
Oubakir rented two vans, one used in the attack and a second, believed to be a getaway vehicle, later found by police in the town of Vic, north of Barcelona.
Hours after the Las Ramblas attack, police shot and killed five suspected jihadists in a second vehicular attack in the town of Cambrils, which left one person dead. The five men were wearing fake suicide belts, reminiscent of those used by the recent attacks at London’s Borough Market.
Police believe the two vehicular attacks were connected with an explosion that killed one person in the tourist district of Alcanar, about 100 miles (160km) southwest of Barcelona, hours prior to the van attack.
Three arrests have been made in connected to the attacks, but police have not released information about the suspects or details of how they might have been involved.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attacks, with its supporters cheering the death of “Spanish pigs” online. However, IS has a history of claiming attacks despite them being carried out by lone wolves with few links to the so-called “caliphate” in Syria or Iraq.
