Death toll in Spain climbs to 15, main terror suspect still at large

Spanish authorities are still searching for Younes Abouyaaqoub, who committed the van attack in Barcelona that left 15 dead and 120 wounded. 

All 15 victims killed in the Islamic terror attack in Barcelona last Thursday were identified, the regional justice minister stated.

Meanwhile, security forces across Europe are still searching for the terrorist.

Spanish authorities said they were looking for the last suspect in the deadly vehicle attacks carried out last week by a 12-member jihadi cell, first in Barcelona and soon after at a seaside town south of the city.

Suspect Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, of Moroccan origin, is the final target of an ongoing manhunt, Catalan interior minister Joaquim Forn told Catalunya Radio. “Everything indicates” that Abouyaaqoub was the driver of the van that plowed down Barcelona’s Las Ramblas promenade, he said.

Authorities believe Abouyaaqoub has crossed into France.

A second attack, soon after the Las Ramblas van attack, carried out by other members of the cell, killed one person and injured several more in the coastal town of Cambrils. Police killed five suspected terrorists in a shootout that followed. Four others were arrested.

In total, 120 people were wounded in both attacks, 50 of whom remain hospitalized from both attacks, nine in critical condition, authorities said. The Islamic State (ISIS) terror organization claimed responsibility.

Spanish newspaper El Pais published images Monday of a man they identify as Abouyaaqoub, supposedly escaping on foot after the Barcelona van attack. The three images show a slim man wearing sunglasses seemingly walking through what El Pais says is the traditional La Boqueria market just off Las Ramblas.

On Monday, mourners could be seen weeping and hugging each other as they visited the main memorial site of the Barcelona attack. Many continued to place flowers, candles and heart-shaped balloons at Las Ramblas and at other, smaller tributes located at different points where the van had driven by.

By: World Israel News Staff and AP

BarcelonaISISIslamic terrorSpain