Manhunt for cell led by boy fanatic age 17
BARCELONA BLOODBATH
AN international manhunt was underway last night for a Moroccan terror cell apparently led by a 17-year-old who had vowed to ‘kill infidels’.
Police released mugshots of four young suspects – supposed ringleader Moussa Oukabir, 17, Mohamed Hychami, 24, Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22 and Said Aallaa, 19 – who went on the run immediately after the massacre in Barcelona.
There were unconfirmed local reports that Oukabir – said to have been the driver in the Las Ramblas outrage – was shot dead by police during a second terror attack in Cambrils.
He is thought to have been killed along with four of his henchmen.
Last night police said they were still trying to confirm the identity of the Las Ramblas driver.
Officers fear that the 12-strong terror gang may have been plotting a ‘spectacular’ using vans packed with butane gas bombs.
But their plans were thwarted when their bomb-making factory in a house in Alcanar, 124 miles south of Barcelona, exploded after dozens of highly flammable gas canisters stockpiled by the gang ignited. Twenty butane gas canisters were found intact among the rubble of the house which exploded on Wednesday night, killing one person and injuring another 16.
Security experts believe the gang wanted to hire a large truck like the one used in the Nice atrocity a year ago, but they were unable to obtain permits and had to settle for smaller vans.
The van was hired in the name of Oukabir’s older brother Driss, 28,
‘People here are sad and worried’
who surrendered to the police. Driss, who calls himself ‘the madman’ was initially named as a suspect, but he claimed his identity had been stolen by his brother.
Yesterday officers battered down the door of the family home in Ripoll, a mountain town 65 miles north of Barcelona.
Their mother Fatima Ouhnine and their two older sisters Hanane and Fahima were held for questioning. Photographs emerged yes- terday of the cramped ground floor flat where the brothers lived amid a pile of rubbish, carpets, curtains and belongings.
Neighbours claimed that Moussa Oukabir was ‘normal teenager who loves football’, but a disturbing picture emerged online of his hatred for non-Muslims.
When asked on social media site Kiwi, ‘In your first day as king or queen of the world, what would you do?’, Moussa responded: ‘Kill infidels and only spare Muslims who follow the religion.’
The schoolboy can be seen smiling and posing in casual clothing on his social media accounts. He also posted pictures of his dog, a Staffordshire bull terrier called ‘Vinny’ online.
He used one social network to rate girls’ profile pictures out of ten. Neighbours said he was a ‘quiet IT student’ who liked chasing girls in the town where he played football for a local youth team, while Driss worked in a restaurant.
Driss spent a month in prison when he was suspected of a sex crime. He was released in 2012.
Following the breakdown of their parents’ marriage, their father Said left the four-storey apartment block on the outskirts of Ripoll. The brothers attended the local Instituto Albat Oliba high school. Ripoll mayor Jordi Munell, said: ‘They have lived here for many years and we have never had a problem. People here are sad and worried. We are a town of around 11,000 people with nine per cent immigrants. We practically all know each other.’
Neighbours told of their shock after their mother and sisters were held. Mother-of-two Fina Cerra Muniz said: ‘I heard these terrible noises coming from down stairs. I looked out of the window and saw police cars and vans. There was this loud banging.’
Another neighbour added: ‘Moussa is a normal kid. The family are not particularly religious. I don’t ever remember seeing Moussa at the mosque.’ Mohamed Hychami, 24, lives in the same block as the Oukabir brothers. Another suspect Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, lives in the same town. The fourth suspect Said Aallaa, 18, comes from the nearby village of Ribes de Freser.
Yesterday police said they had arrested four other men who had no record of terrorist activity.
Three Moroccans and a Spaniard aged between 21 and 34 were held in Ripoll and Alcanar. One man, named locally as Salh el-Karib, was threatened by a 50-strong mob as he was led out of an apartment in the centre of Ripoll with a blanket over his head.
Armed police were checking cars entering and leaving the village.