e***@posti.com
2017-08-19 02:11:51 UTC
An attacker killed at least 13 people and injured dozens more in
Barcelona on Thursday using what has become a hallmark of recent
terror attacks: a vehicle.
Local police say a rented van jumped the curb and plowed into
pedestrians in the citys famous Las Ramblas tourist area, and
two people, one from Morocco, the other a Spanish national, are
in custody in connection with the attack. Authorities say
neither of them was the driver of the vehicle.
Asked if the driver remains on the loose, a Catalonia police
official replied, That is right. He is neither of the two
detained.
For more than a year, ISIS has urged its followers to carry out
such vehicle attacks, even providing specific instructions on
choosing the ideal vehicle and the ideal targets, including
large outdoor festivals and pedestrian-congested streets.
According to John Cohen, the former principal deputy coordinator
for counterterrorism at the Department of Homeland Security an
an ABC News contributor, attacks on so-called soft targets are
difficult to prevent and relatively easy to carry out.
ISIS promotes these types of attacks because they're easy,
Cohen told ABC News. You can take people who have received no
training, who are using items that are easy to acquire. And they
can still commit mass murder.
Thursdays attack is the just the latest in a string of deadly
incidents throughout Europe in which terrorists have drawn from
that playbook, using vehicles to inflict casualties.
In August of last year, 86 people were killed on by a speeding
truck driven by an ISIS follower in Nice, France. In December,
12 people killed in a vehicle attack on the Christmas markets in
Berlin. And 14 people were killed in two separate incidents in
London this year, one on the Westminster Bridge and the other on
the London Bridge.
According to the SITE Intelligence Group, ISIS took
responsibility for the Barcelona attack, calling those involved
soldiers of the Islamic state in a statement released by its
Amaq News Agency
Security source for Amaq Agency: The executors of the
Barcelona attack were from the soldiers of the Islamic State,
and the operation came in response to calls to target coalition
states, the message reads.
U.S.-backed fighters have recently driven ISIS militants from
their strongholds in Raqqa and Mosul. As ISIS continues to
struggle on the battlefield, Cohen says, the group could
increasingly turn to these kinds of attacks.
We have seen a dramatic increase in attacks by individuals who
are inspired by ISIS or are loosely connected to ISIS in Europe
and even in the U.S., Cohen told ABC News. As ISIS suffers
more defeats in Iraq and Syria we can only expect to see more
attacks.
The events in Barcelona have put American law enforcement
officials on high alert for similar attacks, especially in New
York, where the challenge of protecting the citys many popular
pedestrian walkways, like Times Square, is particularly daunting.
Nicholas Casale, a retired NYPD detective, former deputy
director of counterterrorism for the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority and an ABC News contributor, said preventing a similar
attack in Times Square would be extremely difficult.
You can put up concrete barriers, you can have cameras all over
the place and officers with heavy weapons, but the bottom line
is Times Square, 7th Avenue, is filled with traffic, and if you
have just one operator who has a sympathy, who is a lone wolf,
who is an independent actor, its all but impossible to stop
them from crashing into a crowd, Casale told ABC News.
James Waters, the NYPDs chief of counterterrorism, said his
office is ready to meet the challenge.
We consider NYC a target all the time, Waters told ABC News.
Were always ready and prepared to responds to anything that we
face. We know that were in the crosshairs of the terrorists all
the time.
ABC News Pete Madden, Cho Park, Alex Hosenball, Margaret
Katcher, Erin Galloway and Alex Gurvets contributed to this
report.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/barcelona-terror-attack-
deadly-pattern-vehicular-violence/story?id=49282755
Barcelona on Thursday using what has become a hallmark of recent
terror attacks: a vehicle.
Local police say a rented van jumped the curb and plowed into
pedestrians in the citys famous Las Ramblas tourist area, and
two people, one from Morocco, the other a Spanish national, are
in custody in connection with the attack. Authorities say
neither of them was the driver of the vehicle.
Asked if the driver remains on the loose, a Catalonia police
official replied, That is right. He is neither of the two
detained.
For more than a year, ISIS has urged its followers to carry out
such vehicle attacks, even providing specific instructions on
choosing the ideal vehicle and the ideal targets, including
large outdoor festivals and pedestrian-congested streets.
According to John Cohen, the former principal deputy coordinator
for counterterrorism at the Department of Homeland Security an
an ABC News contributor, attacks on so-called soft targets are
difficult to prevent and relatively easy to carry out.
ISIS promotes these types of attacks because they're easy,
Cohen told ABC News. You can take people who have received no
training, who are using items that are easy to acquire. And they
can still commit mass murder.
Thursdays attack is the just the latest in a string of deadly
incidents throughout Europe in which terrorists have drawn from
that playbook, using vehicles to inflict casualties.
In August of last year, 86 people were killed on by a speeding
truck driven by an ISIS follower in Nice, France. In December,
12 people killed in a vehicle attack on the Christmas markets in
Berlin. And 14 people were killed in two separate incidents in
London this year, one on the Westminster Bridge and the other on
the London Bridge.
According to the SITE Intelligence Group, ISIS took
responsibility for the Barcelona attack, calling those involved
soldiers of the Islamic state in a statement released by its
Amaq News Agency
Security source for Amaq Agency: The executors of the
Barcelona attack were from the soldiers of the Islamic State,
and the operation came in response to calls to target coalition
states, the message reads.
U.S.-backed fighters have recently driven ISIS militants from
their strongholds in Raqqa and Mosul. As ISIS continues to
struggle on the battlefield, Cohen says, the group could
increasingly turn to these kinds of attacks.
We have seen a dramatic increase in attacks by individuals who
are inspired by ISIS or are loosely connected to ISIS in Europe
and even in the U.S., Cohen told ABC News. As ISIS suffers
more defeats in Iraq and Syria we can only expect to see more
attacks.
The events in Barcelona have put American law enforcement
officials on high alert for similar attacks, especially in New
York, where the challenge of protecting the citys many popular
pedestrian walkways, like Times Square, is particularly daunting.
Nicholas Casale, a retired NYPD detective, former deputy
director of counterterrorism for the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority and an ABC News contributor, said preventing a similar
attack in Times Square would be extremely difficult.
You can put up concrete barriers, you can have cameras all over
the place and officers with heavy weapons, but the bottom line
is Times Square, 7th Avenue, is filled with traffic, and if you
have just one operator who has a sympathy, who is a lone wolf,
who is an independent actor, its all but impossible to stop
them from crashing into a crowd, Casale told ABC News.
James Waters, the NYPDs chief of counterterrorism, said his
office is ready to meet the challenge.
We consider NYC a target all the time, Waters told ABC News.
Were always ready and prepared to responds to anything that we
face. We know that were in the crosshairs of the terrorists all
the time.
ABC News Pete Madden, Cho Park, Alex Hosenball, Margaret
Katcher, Erin Galloway and Alex Gurvets contributed to this
report.
http://abcnews.go.com/International/barcelona-terror-attack-
deadly-pattern-vehicular-violence/story?id=49282755