19 August 2017•Update: 19 August 2017
By Senhan Bolelli, Ugur Cil
BARCELONA
Spain will not update the threat level after the Thursday’s attack in Barcelona that killed at least 14 people, the country’s interior minister said on Saturday.
“We will increase the existing security measures [particularly in tourist areas] but will not upgrade the threat level because there is no information on the risk of an imminent attack,” Juan Ignacio Zoido Alvarez told reporters after attending a national security meeting in Madrid.
The threat level 4 [the second highest level] has remained unchanged since 2015, Alvarez said.
On Thursday evening, 14 people were killed and more than 100 others injured when a white van ploughed into a crowd in central Barcelona.
Spanish police shot and killed five suspected terrorists in an operation after the attack.
the terror cell involved in the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks has been “completely dismantled”, according to the minister.
Police are now looking 22-year-old Moroccan-born Younes Abouyaaqoub who was designated as the suspected driver by Spanish media.
The Interior Ministry will hold an emergency meeting on Monday with political party representatives and anti-terrorism experts over the measures against terrorism, said Alvarez.
During his remarks, he also thanked 2 million Muslims living in the country for the reactions that they showed over the attack.
“We will win against fanaticism of terrorism. However it may not be quick and easy. We will succeed this by being unified.”
A 33-year-old Turkish national, Emre Eroglu, was among those wounded in Thursday’s terrorist attack.
Eroglu, to whom Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke over the phone, released a message via the Foreign Ministry.
“I thank [the government] one more time. It is the first time that I’ve experienced such an unfortunate incident," he wrote. "I was moved by the reflex that every level of government showed. I convey my respects."
