Dilip Kuner
THREE members of an Islamist terror group responsible for the 2017 terror attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils which killed 16 and injured 140 have been jailed for up to 53 years.
None of the men convicted participated in the actual attacks – all the ‘active’ members of the
cell were killed at the time – but were found to have helped the terrorists in their deadly plot.
The attacks happened after two members of the terror cell, including a Muslim cleric thought to be the ringleader, were killed when a blast ripped through a country house while preparing explosives.
The group then improvised an attack on Barcelona’s famous Las Ramblas by driving a van at high speed through the crowded street, mowing down pedestrians. A similar attack was carried out in nearby Cambrils.
Six terrorists were shot dead by police at the time.
Now Spain’s National Court has jailed Mohamed Houli Chemlal, a 24-year-old, and Driss Oukabir, 32 and originally from Morocco for their part in the planning of the attacks.
They were found guilty on 29 counts of mass destruction with terrorist intent and of belonging to a terrorist organisation and manufacturing explosives.
A panel of three judges sentenced Chemlal to 53 1/2 years and Oukabir to 46 years behind bars, although they are expected to serve 20 years.
A third man – Moroccan-born Said Ben Iazza, 28, – was jailed for eight years after being convicted of cooperating with a terrorist organization by buying materials to make explosives.
