Spanish probe points to wider network in attacks; American among dead

Source: The Washington Post




By James McAuley, Michael Birnbaum and William Booth August 18 at 10:47 AM

BARCELONA — Spanish police expanded their hunt Friday for a man who swerved his van onto Barcelona’s Las Ramblas promenade, as evidence of a wider web of plotters took shape after the worst terrorist attack on Spain in more than a decade.

Investigators were still untangling the chain of events. But they believe at least eight people plotted Thursday’s Barcelona attack and another one south of the city early Friday, which evinced a level of sophistication comparable to major strikes in Paris and Brussels in recent years. Other more recent attacks in Nice, Berlin and London were perpetrated by individuals operating largely on their own.

Authorities detained three Moroccan men and a Spaniard, but the main suspect — the driver of the van, who fled on foot after the rampage — remained at large.

Meanwhile, the nation began to mourn the international group of at least 13 victims who were fatally struck as they walked in the heart of Barcelona’s tourist district late Thursday afternoon.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/barcelona-reels-under-coordinated-attacks-that-claim-more-than-a-dozen-lives/2017/08/18/55ad9554-8383-11e7-9e7a-20fa8d7a0db6_story.html?utm_term=.10cce18dd2b0&wpisrc=al_alert-world&wpmk=1