A large nucleus of 17 people was dismantled after a police operation in Catalonia
Seven people were arrested today as part of a police operation in Barcelona and a nearby town to dismantle a nucleus suspected of carrying out an attack, the French news agency reported, citing the Catalan regional police.
"Ten people have been arrested in connection with a counter-terrorism operation this morning in Barcelona and Igualada, a small town 60 kilometers west of the Catalan capital," police said on Twitter.
The suspects "intended to carry out an attack", but the police operation prevented them from "managing to carry out their plans", said Interior Minister Miguel Butz.
All the arrests were made in Barcelona, a spokesman for the regional police said, without elaborating on the nationality, age and profile of the suspects.
More than 100 police officers were mobilized as part of the operation, which began at 06.00 a.m. local time and was conducted on charges of "terrorist crimes" and setting up a "criminal organization."
Police searched six locations in Barcelona and Igualada.
According to a photojournalist from the French Agency from the scene, heavily armed police officers, with their faces covered, were deployed outside two buildings, where the authorities raided Barcelona, while police officers came out holding sacks of confiscated items.
Barcelona was put on alert during the Christmas and New Year holidays after US authorities warned of the danger of a terrorist attack.
Discussion about this post