Suspicious van prompts bomb scare in Barcelona

Madrid [Spain], Sept 13 (ANI): A suspicious van parked near Barcelona's Sagrada Família church prompted a bomb scare on Tuesday. However, no explosives were found in the van.

The van had prompted a bomb scare and Catalan police temporarily evacuated Sagrada Família church and nearby businesses and sent send a bomb squad for the inspection of the suspicious van.

The operation concluded after no explosives were found.

Barcelona, the tourism hub of Spain, and the coastal town of Cambrils witnessed terror attacks last month.

On August 17, 2017; 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van into pedestrians on La Rambla in Barcelona and killed 13 people and injured at least 130 others, one of whom died 10 days later on August 27.

Nine hours after the Barcelona attack, five men thought to be members of the same terrorist cell drove into pedestrians in nearby Cambrils, killing one woman and injuring six others. All five attackers were shot and killed by police.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took the responsibility for both attacks.

The night before the Barcelona attack, an explosion occurred in a house in the Spanish town of Alcanar, destroying the building and killing two members of the terrorist cell; including the 40-year-old imam thought to be the mastermind.

Spain has kept its anti-terrorism security warning one level below the maximum since mid-2015. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI