Manhunt continues for van terror suspect

A EUROPE-wide manhunt is continuing for the Moroccan man suspected of murdering 14 people by running them over with a van in Thursday’s terror strike in Barcelona.

And police have raided the home of an Islamic preacher in Ripoll, 100km inland of Barcelona, as it appears likely the cell of 12 terrorists who launched the twin attacks, which also in- jured 130 people, were based out of that small town.

The suspected van driver, Youness Abouyaaquob, 22, has been on the run since a rented van was used to mow down tourists on the crowded Las Ramblas promenade on Thursday afternoon. There are fears he may have slipped across Spain’s open borders and police have expanded their hunt across Europe.

They are also investigating whether Abouyaaquob was responsible for killing Spanish citizen Pau Perez Villan, 35, who was stabbed to death and his car hijacked.

The car drove through a police checkpoint outside Barcelona on Thursday night, and police who fired on it and brought it to a halt found Mr Perez Villan’s body inside, while the driver escaped on foot.

All five of the terrorists who launched a second attack in the seaside city of Cambrils eight hours after the Las Ramblas attack, killing one person and injuring six more, were shot dead by police. Four others are under arrest, including Driss Oukabir, 28, whose younger brother Moussa, 17, apparently used his brother’s passport to rent the van used in the attack.

Moussa was shot dead at Cambrils, with fellow jihadis Said Aallaa, 19, and Mohamed Hychami, 24. Two others are yet to be named.

Driss Oukabir is one of two men arrested in Ripoll, a town of just 11,000 people, where the home of preacher Abdelbaki Es Satty was raided on Saturday.

Several people alleged to have been involved in the terror plot, including the Oukabir brothers, are of Moroccan origin, and Moussa Oukabir lived in Ripoll. The fugitive Abouyaaquob also lives there.