Four suspects arrested appear before National Court

The four surviving suspects linked to the terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils are to appear before the National Court in Madrid today, a day after the last terrorist at large — and driver of the van that run over a crowd in La Rambla — was shot dead by Catalan police.

National Court justice Fernando Andreu will interview all the suspects to determine their connection with the jihadist group. He is to decide today whether the four alleged terrorists will be sent to prison or released, if there is not enough evidence against them.

The first suspect being interrogated is Mohamed Houli Chemal, 21 years old, who was arrested in the hospital after being injured in an accidental explosion in Alcanar on Wednesday night, where the group had a bomb-making workshop. ACN has learned that Chemal’s testimony will be crucial to shed light on the terrorists’ initial plans.

The detainees have been held in custody in Catalonia and were transferred to the Spanish capital on Monday. Since they were first arrested, all of the suspects have been kept in solitary confinement to prevent them from exchanging information with each other.

Who are the detainees?

The four detainees are Mohammed Aalla, 27 years old; Salh El Karib, 24 years old; Driss Oukabir, 28 years old; and Chemal himself. All suspects but Chemal were arrested in Ripoll, the Catalan town home to most of the alleged jihadists.

The first arrested suspect was Driss Oukabir, a 28-year-old. He was taken into custody shortly after the van attack on Thursday afternoon. Oukabir claimed to be innocent, and said he gave himself up to the police after seeing his picture on TV as the main suspect of the attack in Barcelona. According to him, his brother Moussa — shot dead in Cambrils in the second attack — stole his ID and rented the van without his permission. He later changed his testimony and said he rented the van himself, but thought it would be used for moving furniture.

The investigation goes on

According to the police investigation, the terrorist group that carried out the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils had 12 members. After the La Rambla attacker, Younes Abouyaaquobb, was gunned down yesterday, all alleged members are currently in custody or dead. Five were shot dead in Cambrils in the early hours of Friday.

Among the two dead in Alcanar following the explosion, Catalan police confirm they found the body of Abdelbaki es Satty, the imam who is thought to be the instigator of the attacks and the leader of the terrorist cell.

Catalan police says the terrorist cell has been dismantled; yet, the investigation is not over. More suspects could be arrested in the following days, although they won’t be members of the terrorist cell that carried out the attacks.

International ties

Among the questions yet to be resolved is whether the organization had ties with other jihadist cells overseas.

Members of the terrorist group traveled to France one week before the attacks, French Home Affairs Minister Gérard Collomb said on Tuesday in an interview with BFMTV. An Audi — which could be the same car used by terrorists in the attack in Cambrils — containing four of them was seen near Paris on August 12.

However, they were unknown to French intelligence services — nor they were known to Spanish or Catalan police as alleged terrorists either. “We did not know these people,” said Collomb.

Death toll up to 15 with 7 still in critical care

Death toll went up from 14 to 15, as Catalan police confirmed on Monday that a man stabbed to death just outside Barcelona had been killed by the van driver as he was fleeing the city. All of victims have now been officially identified.

There are 7 people still in critical care, and 13 with severe injuries. In all, 126 people have been hospitalized because of the events on the Rambla and in Cambrils.