France arrests six in relation to Barcelona attacks
Catalan and Spanish police collaborate with French counterparts to investigate international links
French police arrested six people on Tuesday in an anti-terror raid connected with last August’s terror attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, which left 16 people dead a more than a hundred injured, according to France Info radio. The arrests took place in the departments of Bas-Rhin, Gironde and Haute-Garonne.
On January 31, the Paris prosecutor opened an investigation on attempted murder, terrorist organization and illicit terrorist association. In February, three people were arrested in southern France, in the Occitan departments of Gard and Tarn, for allegedly having links with Driss Oukabir, imprisoned in relation to the August 17 attacks. Two of them were released, while a 32 year old man remains behind bars.
The Ministry of Interior emphasized that, following the terror attacks in Catalonia in 2017, one of the main investigations that remains active was opened to find possible connections of the terrorist cell members to third parties, residing outside Spain. The government body also stated that close collaboration with the French authorities and the Catalan and Spanish police forces is “key to correctly clarifying possible ties that this terrorist cell may have had abroad.”