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Europe
It's over-ish: Las Ramblas van terrorist shot dead wearing explosive belt 'and screaming Allahu Akbar' west of Barcelona
2017-08-21
No question about his motivation, one hopes.
[DailyMail] Police believe Abouyaaquob was the last free member of a 12-strong terror cell behind the attacks - all the other members are either dead or in detention

The Las Ramblas terrorist who killed 13 people when he deliberately rammed a van into pedestrians in Barcelona has been rubbed out at a vineyard, 28 miles west of the city, in a dramatic showdown with police.

Younes Abouyaaqoub, a 22-year-old Moroccan national, became Europe's most wanted man after he ploughed a van into pedestrians on Thursday.

He escaped the scene on foot before hi-jacking a car, stabbing its driver to death and ramming into a police blockade near Sant Just Desvern, outside Barcelona.

He spent four days in hiding before today being spotted by a Catalan vineyard owner in the town of Subirats.

The daughter of the vineyard owner said her father alerted police after they saw a car crossing their property at high speed even though the vineyard was closed off.

Roser Venura says police told them to immediately leave the Ventura Soler cava vineyard, located between the towns of Sadurni d'Anoia and Subirats. She says "we heard a helicopter flying around and many police cars coming toward the gas station" near the property.

Armed units were scrambled before confronting Abouyaaquob who was wearing what appeared to be a boom jacket. He died in a hail of bullets while yelling 'Allahu Akbar' - meaning 'God is greatest' in Arabic.

Abouyaaqoub's death brings to an end the worst terror attack in Spain in 13 years, as all of his co-conspirators are either dead or in detention.

Those living in Subirats are still being warned to stay indoors, however, as police search for another man who may have been helping to hide Abouyaaqoub before he was bumped off.

On Monday authorities named Abouyaaquob as the man who drove the van that plowed down the city's famed Las Ramblas promenade, killing 13 pedestrians and injuring 120 others.

Escaping the scene, Abouyaaqoub then carjacked a man named Pau Perez and stabbed him to death Thursday night as he made his getaway, Spanish officials said Monday.

Another vehicle attack early Friday by other members of his hard boy cell killed one person and maimed several others in the coastal town of Cambrils. That ended in a shootout with police, who killed five attackers.

Spanish authorities have now raised the corpse count in the country's two vehicle attacks to 15, with some 50 people still being treated in hospital for their injuries.

Police have 'scientific evidence' showing Abouyaaqoub drove the speeding van in Las Ramblas and also killed Perez on Thursday night, regional police chief Josep Lluis Trapero said Monday.

He said the suspect walked through Barcelona for about 90 minutes after the van attack - through the famed La Boqueria market and nearly to Barcelona University - before hijacking the car.

Perez was parking his car, a Ford Focus, in a lot between 6.10pm and 6.20pm Abouyaaqoub stabbed him before 6.32pm, put him in the car's rear seats and drove away, Trapero said.

Trapero said Perez was already dead when Abouyaaqoub then rammed the car through a police checkpoint minutes later and police opened fire on his car.

The suspect ran over a police officer as the car evaded the checkpoint. About 7 p.m., police found the car and Perez's body nearly 2 miles away from the checkpoint, near Sant Just Desvern, a town west of Barcelona, but Abouyaaqoub was nowhere to be found.

The Spanish newspaper El Pais published images Monday of what it says is Abouyaaqoub making a getaway on foot after the van attack. The three images show a slim man wearing sunglasses walking through the La Boqueria market.

Abouyaaqoub escaped and has not returned to his home in Ripoll, said Trapero.

The oldest son of immigrant parents, Younes was born in Mrirt, a remote village in the mountains between Fez and Marrakesh.

His father Omar had got a job in Ripoll in the timber industry and aged four Younes traveled with his mother Ghanno Gaanimi and younger brother Houssa to Spain, taking the ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar for the first time in 1999.

The Abouyaaquob brothers enrolled at a local school where their Moroccan background and lack of Spanish was not unusual among the 1,000-strong immigrant community.

Younes is described as 'normal' by his peer group in Ripoll ‐ from both Spanish and Moroccan families.

A family friend told MailOnline: 'Younes was just a normal young man, like the others who have been caught up in this mess.'

A teenage neighbour added: 'Younes was a nice guy. A bit shy, but a nice guy. God knows what happened to him for him to have done what he did?'

Strong and athletic, Younes even won trophies for running and climbing.

He got a job at a local factory after school, gaining diplomas in health and safety at work and became a qualified fork lift truck driver.

However over the past year he became increasingly obsessed with Islam, praying more frequently and reading up about the prophet Mohammed.

His relatives claim he was brainwashed.
Posted by:trailing wife

#6  ...while yelling 'Allahu Akbar' - meaning 'God is greatest' in Arabic.

The Muslims seem to always push "God is Great" for this, but I have reason to believe that's just a subterfuge, and it's really "God is Greater."

This is the first I've seen of Greatest, does anyone had a good fix on this?

Could be that there are several meanings; if you're about to get shot or blow-up some people it might be different than during holy prayer.

Posted by: Fairbanks   2017-08-21 23:56  

#5  
Strong and athletic, Younes even won trophies for running and climbing.


But he sucked at dodging.

His relatives claim he was brainwashed.


Yeah, the Koran will do that.
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2017-08-21 19:39  

#4  :-)
Posted by: trailing wife   2017-08-21 17:33  

#3  Hey Pappy ... ICD-10 says acute lead poisoning
Posted by: Warthog   2017-08-21 17:25  

#2  We should check the International Classification of Diseases. Surely there's a cause in there, somewhere.
Posted by: Pappy   2017-08-21 15:41  

#1   He died in a hail of bullets while yelling 'Allahu Akbar' - meaning 'God is greatest' in Arabic.

Sadly we'll likely never know his motivation. Possibly the Reform Movement
Posted by: Frank G on the Road   2017-08-21 14:34  

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