By James Simons-
Spanish police are in a desperate race against time to find those responsible for planning and executing the latest Spanish terror attacks.
Police are hunting 18 year old teenager, Mousa Oukabir , the suspected Barcelona van driver believed to have used his brother’s documents to rent the van that mowed down people on the famous boulevard.
A 12-strong terror cell are believed to doctored the two Spanish attacks is believed to have been planning an atrocity with gas canisters. A stampede of tourists in Cambrills ran for cover as bullets were fired near the beach holidaymakers had been enjoying the glorious sunshine.
Moussa Oukabir, 18, is being hunted as the suspected van driver
An Audi A3 driven by the would be terrorists capsized, exposing the men who were wearing explosive belts, to the police who shot them dead.
Investigators are working on the theory that the attacks in Cambrils and Barcelona are linked to a gas explosion at a house in the town of Alcanar on Wednesday that killed one person.
Four people have so far been arrested over the attack, including Driss Oukabir, the elder brother of van driver suspect Moussa Oukabir.
A policeman stands by a car involved in a terrorist attack in Cambrils A second Spanish man who was arrested on Friday has not been named , though the third person arrested in the Spanish city of Ripoll on Friday is reported to be an associate of Oukabir.
Spanish police believe the third arrested man could be the driver of a car that drove into a police checkpoint on Thursday night. State of Iraq and the Levant have claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the worst ever seen on Spanish soil since the Madrid train bombs that killed 190 in 2004. Spain is currently in a feverish mood, because those there don’t know what the future holds or what to expect.
Meanwhile the chase for Mousa Oukabir is really urgent before he strikes again. The chances of Oukabir being caught are very high because his picture has been paraded on the world media, making it very difficult for him to hide successfully for very long. The problem investigators may encounter is catching him after he has found refuge with members of his terrorist network. If Oukabir successfully managed to find shelter under the wings of any of his terrorist associates, he may hide there indefinitely.
Investigators are leaving no stones unturned in the frantic search for this murderer who cannot be allowed to remain at large for too long. Families and friends of the dead will just be commencing a difficult summer of mourning caused by a man still on the loose and capable of causing more terrorist attacks and inevitably more loss of life.