BARCELONA: Suspects in Spain’s deadly twin terror attacks were preparing an even bigger assault that was foiled as events unfolded, police said Friday as the death toll rose to 14 with over 100 injured. Officers also said the driver of the white van which mowed down tourists in the packed centre of Barcelona Thursday evening may have been among suspects killed in the hours since the mayhem started. Police said they killed five ‘suspected terrorists’ during the night and arrested three others as Spain reeled from the double tragedy in Barcelona and in Cambrils, some 120 kilometres south. In a poignant moment Friday, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, King Felipe VI and the president of Catalonia – where both attacks took place – held a minute of silence in Barcelona. It was followed by applause and shouts of ‘not afraid’. In what has been a fast-moving investigation, police were quick to connect the two attacks, and at a briefing Friday afternoon revealed the suspects had apparently been planning something bigger. “They were preparing one or several attacks in Barcelona and an explosion in Alcanar stopped this as they no longer had the material they needed to commit attacks of an even bigger scope,” said Josep Lluis Trapero of Catalonia’s police. He was referring to a blast in a house in the town of Alcanar Wednesday evening, which police said killed one person. They said it was caused by an attempt to make explosive devices. Trapero said that after this, the suspects – who formed part of a cell – allegedly went on to commit ‘more rudimentary’ attacks. These involved the vehicles ploughing into pedestrians in Barcelona and Cambrils. The Cambril suspects had an axe and knives in the car as well as fake explosive belts stuck to their bodies, said police. The police chief added that the driver of the van in Barcelona could be among the five suspects shot dead by security forces in Cambrils. But while some evidence indicated this, there was no conclusive proof. Both the Spanish attacks followed the same modus operandi. The official Spanish emergency service announced that Pakistanis were among the victims of the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks, however, Pakistan’s Foreign Office claimed otherwise. “The dead and wounded victims of the #Cambrils and #Barcelona attacks according to a provisional balance of 34 different nationalities,” the Directorate General of Civil Protection of Catalunya tweeted on Friday. The list of 34 nationalities includes people from Germany, Belgium, Egypt, Spain, Italy, France and the UK, among others. Foreign Office spokesperson said that according to information received from the Embassy of Pakistan in Madrid and the Consulate General in Barcelona, there were no reports of any Pakistanis among the dead or injured. “Our missions in Madrid and Barcelona have set up situation rooms, which will continue to operate until required,” it said in a statement. It also condemned the attack and conveyed ‘profound sympathies to families of bereaved and those injured’. Islamic State’s propaganda agency Amaq claimed that the attacks were carried out by ‘soldiers’ from the militant group. Published in Daily Times, August 19th 2017.