Cambrils

Two people had been arrested in Barcelona and Igualada, 60 kilometres (40 miles) west of the Catalan capital, as part of the raid, the spokesman for Catalonia's police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, told AFP. Further arrests were expected, he added. "The goal (of the cell) was to attack but we are still investigating which places may have been targeted," the spokesman said.    Over 100 officers were taking part in the "counter-terrorism operation" launched by the Catalan  police force at six am (0500 GMT), the Mossos said on Twitter. Police stormed five properties in Barcelona and a sixth in Igualada as part of the operation. Armed officers, wearing black ski masks, stood guard outside a building in central Barcelona as boxes and bags were removed from a flat, according to an AFP reporter on the scene. The operation was ordered by Spain's High Court, which is charged with terrorism investigations, and it is focused … [Read more...] about Spanish police raid Barcelona cell suspected of plotting terror attack

A Moroccan migrant caused panic by entering a church in Maclodio, Italy, and screaming “Allah” and sentences in Arabic during the Christmas evening mass. While the 35-year-old was shouting during the gospel reading, he was holding one arm behind his back, panicking churchgoers who believed he was armed, reports La Repubblica.The town mayor and some young men managed to push the man, who turned out not to be armed, out of the church. The mayor then called the Italian military police, the Carbinieri, who arrested the Moroccan and took him to a local police station. According to a gendarme, the migrant had moved from Maclodio, in Lombardy, north west Italy, to nearby Travagliato six months ago, and appeared to make the four mile journey just to pay a visit to the church. Italians are likely to be on high alert with relation to Islamist threats to places of worship after Italian counter-terrorism police arrested a Somali migrant with ties to Islamic … [Read more...] about Panic at Christmas Mass After Moroccan Migrant Screamed ‘Allah’ in Church

The US State Department has warned its citizens in Barcelona to be on high alert for terrorist threats in the Catalan capital, specifically along the city’s emblematic and pedestrian-packed Ramblas district.  “Exercise heightened caution around areas of vehicle movement, including buses, in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona during Christmas and New Year’s,” tweeted the government body. “Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, and other public areas.” As a result of the shared information (it remains unclear whether US government sources contacted Spain or Catalonia officials directly), regional police force Mossos d'Esquadra are now looking for a man they suspect could be behind the potential attack. He’s being referred to as BL, a 30-year-old Moroccan from Casablanca who has a permit to drive buses. This last fact is of particular concern for regional authorities following … [Read more...] about Catalan police on manhunt after US sends out Ramblas terror alert

"Exercise heightened caution around areas of vehicle movement, including buses, in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona during Christmas and New Year's. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, and other public areas," the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs said in a tweet on Sunday. Asked about the warning during an interview with Rac1 radio on Monday, Catalonia's regional interior minister Miquel Buch said police "were working on this threat". "We take seriously all threats, all of them are investigated," he added, without giving further details. Top-selling Spanish newspaper El Pais, citing anonymous police sources, said the authorities were looking for a 30-year-old Moroccan man with a licence to drive buses. Barcelona-based daily El Periodico de Catalunya said Catalan regional police had circulated an internal note that the man could try to drive a bus into … [Read more...] about Barcelona on alert after US warns of possible Christmas attack

Authorities in Barcelona have been placed on high alert after receiving information on a potential planned terror attack and began a search for a Moroccan migrant believed to be connected to the threat. The initial terror warning was made public by the U.S. State Department which wrote on social media, “Spain: Exercise heightened caution around areas of vehicle movement, including buses, in the Las Ramblas area of Barcelona during Christmas and New Year’s.“Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, and other public areas.” Catalonian Interior Minister Miquel Buch told local radio Rac1 that the regional police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, along with other Spanish police forces were cooperating to investigate the threat. Spanish media also reported that investigators had begun a manhunt to locate a 30-year-old man from Casablanca, Morocco, identified only as “B.L.” … [Read more...] about Spanish Police Search for Migrant in Connection with Christmas Terror Threat