Spanish police have mounted a mammoth anti-terrorism operation in Barcelona and Cambrils after two separate attacks linked to the Islamic State occurred.
In Barcelona, a suspected ISIS militant drove a van into crowds in one of the busiest streets in the city. The attack took place on Thursday afternoon as tourists were taking strolls and as such affecting a large number. Initial reports indicate that the 13 people were killed and the number expected to rise as over hundred more were injured in the attack. The driver of the van is still at large after he escaped on foot shortly after the abandoning the van.
In Cambrils, a town south of Barcelona, the security agency killed five attackers on Thursday night foiling an attack believed to have been linked to the Barcelona one. The militants were orchestrating coordinate attacks with explosive belts but equivalently managed to injure seven people including a police officer after by running them over with a car.
ISIS later took credit for the attack saying that it was retaliation for Spain’s troop contribution to the coalition forces fighting the insurgents in Iraq.
