Barcelona: Complex Attack Significantly More Dangerous if ISIS-Inspired

By General Michael Hayden

General Michael V. Hayden is a retired four-star General in the United States Air Force; he served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2006-2009 and as Director of the National Security Agency from 1999-2005.

Spanish authorities said Friday the deadly attacks in Barcelona and a seaside town are linked and long-planned by a terrorist cell. While several people have been arrested in connection with the attacks, the driver who plowed through pedestrians on Las Ramblas is still at large and police are searching for other suspects. ISIS claimed responsibility for the Barcelona attack, which killed 13 people and injured over 100.

Early Friday morning, police killed five suspects in the town of Cambrils after another car attack left one person dead and several others injured. Authorities said the attacks were connected, and also linked with an explosion on Wednesday that left one dead. Police believe the explosion in the terror cell’s house in Alcanar, Spain was accidental and destroyed material the perpetrators had expected to use in their attacks.

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