Terrorist threats in spain italy greece. The terrorist attacks in Spain are the preparation of Europe for the New World Order. Information about Russians is being checked

In Spain, a series of terrorist attacks took place, the victims of which, according to the latest data,. More than 100 were injured. On the evening of August 17 in the center of Barcelona. It happened near Plaça Catalunya at the beginning of the Rambla, which is the main tourist street in the city. A white minibus drove out from the side of Pelai Street and rammed a crowd of passers-by. According to the newspaper El País, the driver drove half a kilometer at a speed of 80 km / h, driving the car in zigzags to hook more people. After hitting passers-by, the driver of the van got out of the car and fled the scene of the crime. According to other media, there were two criminals, they left in another van. Soon he was discovered in the city of Vic, 70 km from Barcelona. The cars were designed for two people. The passport of a resident of Spain, Driss Oukabir, was found in the van, which was hit. However, the suspect later saw his picture in the media. Ukabir stated that his documents were stolen. According to one version, they could have been stolen by the 18-year-old brother of Driss Moussa. The authorities officially confirmed the death of 13 people. More than a hundred were injured, of which 15 are in serious condition, 23 are in a state of moderate severity. (ISIS * - banned in Russia) took responsibility for the attack. A few hours later, the media reported a new attack in Barcelona. Later it turned out that one of the suspects in the attack hit the police. Law enforcement officers pursued the attacker for another three kilometers. In the municipality of Sant Just Desvern, a shootout ensued between law enforcement officers and the suspect, during which he was killed. Local media reported that the murdered suspect was sitting in the passenger seat at the time of the collision with the police and was not shot, but stabbed to death by an unknown person. Law enforcement officers find out the circumstances. The Spanish police have arrested two people as part of an investigation into a terrorist attack in the center of Barcelona. The detainees were people from North Africa. Previously, they were not prosecuted. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced in connection with the terrorist attack.

“Victims and loved ones are the main thing for us now. I want to express solidarity with Spain - Barcelona. Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Nice, London have experienced the same pain that the people of Barcelona are now experiencing,” he said.

“Today, the fight against terrorism is a priority for free and open societies like ours. This is a global threat and the response to it must also be global,” said Prime Minister Rajoy. These words already indicated that Spain would radically change its approach to its security.

On Thursday around 17.00 local time (18.00 Moscow time), a white van drove into a crowd of people on the Rambla in the center of Barcelona. According to the latest data, 13 people died, more than 190 were injured. Another terrorist attack following the same scheme was thwarted a few hours later in the city of Cambrils in the south of the country. There, the police managed to kill five militants and wound a sixth.

The Spanish Prime Minister has already promised to turn to the country's political parties to change the state's "anti-terrorist pact", which, according to him, does not work today.

This is a document signed in 2015 between the ruling People's Party and the Socialists, the country's main opposition force. It said that both political forces would advocate for life sentences for persons who are involved in supporting terrorism.

However, after the signing of the pact, the socialists announced that they were dissatisfied with it and would challenge it in court. Their fears were related to difficult relations in Spain itself. Here there are separatist groups advocating an exit from the country, such as the Catalan Basques. The socialists feared that the law would be used to put official Madrid under pressure on moderate Basque groups who were in favor of autonomy but opposed to terror.

“Spain is a special case in the pan-European fight against terrorism,” said the director of programs at the European Center for Strategic Studies and Security. - This country refused on principle to participate in anti-terrorist campaigns in Iraq and subsequently in Syria. To date, Spain's participation in the Western coalition fighting against the terrorist "Islamic State" (IS, banned in Russia) is also very limited. The Spanish military basically only provides advice and training to their colleagues.”

According to Gazeta.ru's interlocutor, Madrid has so far backed up its neutrality with the argument that IS is primarily attacking countries that are actively involved in the Syrian and Iraqi campaigns (Germany, France, Belgium, etc.).

“After the terrorist attack in Barcelona, ​​this argument no longer works. The strategy of "non-intervention" of Spain, which provided the country with almost 13 years without terrorist attacks, today has shown its inconsistency," Gvozdeva said.

13 years of silence

The Spanish authorities adopted a relatively mild approach to terrorism in 2004. Then in Spain there was a series of explosions at the station in Madrid and in passenger trains. During the attack, 191 people were killed. Almost 2 thousand were injured.

This comes just three years after the September 11 attacks in New York, which forced the US president to declare a "war on terror" and launch massive military campaigns in the Middle East.

Despite the fact that the secret services spoke of a "jihadist" trail in the case of the Madrid bombings, the government of Prime Minister Aznar decided to present this problem as an internal one. The ruling People's Party accused radicals from the Basque group ETA of the crime. Over 800 people have died in the 30 years of the Basques' struggle against the country's government.

The explosions at the Madrid train station actually took place on the eve of the parliamentary elections in the country. Aznar did not heed the calls to move them and lost. As a result, the opposition won the election.

The new Spanish authorities said that the terrorist attacks in Madrid did not occur because of the Basques, but precisely because Aznar supported the American “war on terror” too actively, and Spain paid the price for this position. There were 300 Spanish troops in Iraq at the time.

The government of socialists has gone on a number of reforms aimed at combating terrorism. Many suspected terrorists were expelled from the country, citizens who fought in Iraq and Syria on the side of radical Islamists were arrested, and financial measures were taken, since Spain has long been a financial hub for various terrorist organizations.

Spain has completed the integration of an automated system for reading EU passports with biometric data, and has also implemented explosives detection equipment at five of Spain's largest airports.

All this, coupled with neutrality in the global “war on terror”, has yielded impressive results. Over the past 13 years, there has not been a single terrorist attack in Spain. Even the People's Party, which returned power in the country in 2011, did not dare to challenge the success of this flexible system.

The attack in Barcelona, ​​however, forces Prime Minister Rajoy to change his anti-terrorist strategy. This is also in line with the conservative approach to security promoted by the Spanish People's Party.

“We were once again convinced that even very specific warnings from foreign intelligence services (in this case, they were American) about impending terrorist attacks could not allow Spanish intelligence to prevent them,” says Yevgenia Gvozdeva. - We have already observed a similar situation in the context of the Paris and Brussels attacks, as well as the explosion in Manchester. Why? The level of terrorist threat today is unprecedentedly high, and any, even extraordinary and emergency security measures do not give a 100% guarantee.”

According to a Gazeta.Ru correspondent from Spain, on the evening of the day of the terrorist attack, the roads leading from Barcelona were blocked. At the exit from the city, police officers with machine guns looked into the faces and examined the cars. We worked selectively.

In front of the bus, where the Gazeta.Ru journalist was, a closed minivan was driving. Law enforcement officers examined only the driver's cab. Although at that time the main perpetrator of the terrorist attack on the Rambla had not yet been caught. On Spanish television, they gave a blurry tip: a man of average height in a striped T-shirt.

watch out for the car

Today, when the People's Party, led by Rajoy, is in power in the country, it is she who will have to take additional measures after the terrorist attack in Barcelona. The need to tighten control in the fight against terrorism at the same time should not hurt tourism. This industry today accounts for 15% of Spain's GDP.

Spain is a popular holiday destination for Russian tourists. According to the National Institute of Statistics of Spain, more than 1 million tourists from Russia visited the country in 2016. This is 2% more than a year earlier.

Ekaterina, a Russian tourist who has been to Spain many times, told Gazeta.Ru that she did not notice visible anti-terrorism measures. “These are not the measures that we are used to seeing in Moscow – there are limits and checks everywhere. There is no such. In Spain, it is generally not customary to emphasize military topics, a peaceful country. I think there will be an increase, but not much.”

Russian stage director Yegor Curdello, who has lived in Spain for several years, also expects the measures in Barcelona to be stepped up, but admits that so far this has often been "quite goofy". At the same time, he notes that the Spanish policemen with whom he had to communicate during the preparation of one of the projects look like from “some kind of action movie”: “they have serious training.”

The Russian authorities have already offered their assistance to the Spanish authorities in the fight against terrorism. However, this proposal so far looks more like an act of solidarity. Despite the presence in Russia and Spain itself of specialists in this field, experts believe that in order to prevent a terrorist act using a car, more attention should be paid to the so-called "passive security".

“Establishing concrete blocks along sidewalks may not look very aesthetically pleasing. However, this can help faster than just conducting operational activities. This is a measure of rigid passive security,” retired colonel Sergei Militsky, a former high-ranking officer of Directorate “A” of the Special Purpose Center of the FSB of Russia, tells Gazeta.Ru.

Militsky also draws attention to the fact that terrorists often choose the "iconic" streets of European cities, known all over the world, to carry out their actions. It is these streets that should be given increased attention to the security services, the expert believes.

“Each new attack causes a lively discussion about the “barrier methods” of security and new calls to put up concrete barriers everywhere and to install metal detectors in other places. Such methods are considered by many politicians to be the only correct solution. But this is not so, says Evgenia Gvozdeva from ESISC.

- Any framework and concrete barriers can effectively protect specific infrastructure, facilities, but not people. The barriers will only shift the site of a future terrorist attack, and instead of a tourist street, the terrorists will choose a bus stop, a market, or the entrance to the subway.”

One of the former officers of the Russian special forces, who was involved in the fight against terrorism in the North Caucasus, believes that Spain should take a closer look at domestic practices. “Europeans need to tighten control over citizens who have traveled to Islamic countries, as well as people who have been in contact with them,” said the source of Gazeta.Ru, who wished to remain anonymous. For many Islamists, a terrorist attack is an opportunity to earn money for the family. If you punish not only the participant, but the whole family, then the main point of committing a terrorist attack is lost.”

In the last year, the car has been used for terrorist purposes in a number of European cities. The loudest case was in Nice, when a heavy truck driven by a native of Tunisia caused the death of 80 people.

Barcelona: Fear and horror in Europe are sown on purpose

Barcelona, ​​August 17, 5 p.m. A white van at a speed of 70 km/h plows on the mass of pedestrians on the famous Rambla. Fatal result - 13 were killed immediately, more than 100 people were injured. In another episode, the police kill one suspect. The prime suspect is on the run and still at large. That's for sure? Maybe he's already dead?

All recent vehicular homicides were committed using white vans. Does it say something? Maybe not. But the important thing is that ISIS has already claimed responsibility through their news agency. Amaq according to the presstitute media. Has anyone other than the mainstream media verified this? It seems not. It doesn't matter. When ISIS takes responsibility, everyone calms down. The culprit was found. It's the damn Islamist jihadists again. You can sleep peacefully. And life goes on.

Life, indeed, must go on, and we must be prepared for an increase in the number of terrorist attacks. This is what the mayor of London is telling us and what the new French president, Mr. Macron. They must know something we don't. Okay, let's hug. There is nothing left for us. So?

Head of the French conservative Republican Party, François Fillon, who lost in the recent presidential election, said this about the French tourists who died in the Barcelona attack: “We must take responsibility for ourselves ...” He wanted to say that if he, Monsieur Fillon, was elected president, he would deal with the Islamist terror. To what baseness can one fall ... There are no words, no comments.

And the main perpetrator of the crime, as always and with great convenience for investigators, leaving the scene of the attack leaving in the cab of the van your passport. So now it can be traced back to Melilla, the Spanish enclave in Morocco. In another incident on Wednesday, a major explosion occurred in a water house in the small town of Alcanar, 250 kilometers from Barcelona, ​​before the fatal run on the Rambla. One person died, 7 were injured. One person was arrested by the police. One of the wounded is suspected of being the driver of Rambla's van.

Early Friday morning, a few hours after the Barcelona van rammed into the beach town of Cambrils, 120 kilometers from Barcelona, ​​another van crashed into a police barricade in an attempt to launch an attack on promenade crowded with tourists. Looks like one tourist died. The police, however, according to media reports, kill all five terrorists who were in the van. This time, the police say one of the dead is the driver of the van that rammed people on the Rambla. And the dead don't speak.

All this smells of decaying operations under a false flag. And the "system", this " deep deep state", again, everything gets out of hand.

All this seemingly incoherent mixture of information is intended to confuse you. Relationships are fabricated. Chaos is born. Luli is confused. Let them trust that the police are in control and that they are on the alert. You people don't have to think. After all, as reported, shopping has returned to its previous level. During the day there is candlelight standing in a gloomy atmosphere, some crowd in the center of Barcelona holds a rally for anti-Islamization. And all the time the Rambla - as always - is overrun with tourists. This is how it should be. Let the police take care of everything. Now she will protect us. If they fail, they have the military at hand.

In the meantime, that's what matters! - Immediately after the terrible massacre, condolences pour from such famous characters as Theresa May, madam Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. From Belgium, Denmark... Sadness without end.

Consider how many people have died in the last year of the Wagon Ram Terror (the wagon has become a handy tool for terror, fear, and murder). Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France, July 14, 2016 - 86 killed, almost 500 injured. Christmas market, Berlin, Germany, December 19, 2016 - 12 dead, more than 50 injured. London Bridge, Britain, June 2017 - 7 dead. Stockholm, April 8, 2017 - 4 dead, 15 injured. And now Barcelona.

The condolences of these leaders sound hollow and hypocritical. Because they, these very leaders, and is the crux of the problem. It is at their instigation that these basically simple attacks are carried out. They are their partners. Terrorists on the orders of the Chief Deep State the strings are being pulled by their secret services. Their goal is to conquer Europe and turn it into a military-police state, wreaking havoc and possibly civil war. The civil war is no worse than a sharp reduction in the consumption of basic goods as a result of the economic downturn. It is only necessary to give financial corporations enough freedom to increase their spiral of debt and profits, leaving the population in poverty, in order to end up with a Europe unable to think, with no time for reflection and protest. After all, people will fight only for elementary survival.

You don't believe in it? Look at Greece. Take a look around. There is a slow militarization. Macron is completely devoted to her and does not hesitate to admit it. The French got it., and Macron's popularity has gone down the drain - from 66% during the elections to less than 35% today. But nothing. He will stay with us for another 5 years. This is what the French constitution says. And it will take a (folk) miracle to sweep it away.

A military camp is being built in Germany, a ghost town that costs millions of euros and replicates an ordinary town in detail. Its only purpose is to be a training ground for preparing for war in an urban environment.. So, just in case you and your neighbors decide to turn to protests. If you can't take it anymore, take to the streets to build barricades. That's when the forces of power, prepared for action in the conditions of the city, will come to suppress you and even kill you, if necessary. What you saw at the beginning of July in Hamburg during the G20 meeting is just an innocent rehearsal of what is to come.

Yes, that's what the Europeans are waiting for. The USA has already come to this, they are always one step ahead of us, they make a trial run for us. Barcelona is just a small pebble in the puzzle, in the big picture called "Domination Across the Spectrum". This is the ultimate goal of the Project New American Century"**. For Washington's dark one-eyed Deep State, this project is the new Bible. It is written and periodically updated by the one-eyed Anglo Zionists of the highest echelon. We are almost there.

Why Spain and why now? There have been no major terrorist attacks in this country since March 11, 2004, when three days before the presidential election, several explosions at the Atocha train station in Madrid killed 112 people and wounded more than 2,000. It had nothing to do with jihadism. And although al-Qaeda was blamed for the attack, no evidence of its connection with the incident was provided. It was the work of the right PP party government(Partido Popular - People's Party), which at that moment was in power and which wanted to put the blame on the Socialist Party (PSOE) in order to win the elections. Everything turned out the other way around. The Socialists won and remained in power for two terms, for a total of 8 years. However, in the second term, the full power of the neo-liberals fell upon the socialists of Spain - as elsewhere in Europe. Socialists became, and remain to this day, traitors to their people.

Today, Spain, after a soft parliamentary coup in 2016 that went almost unnoticed, has quietly flowed into the power of a neo-liberal government. Rajoya. So Spain seemed to be quite safe for the system. It also strictly follows the strict rules of the IMF. Its debt is 100% of GDP, 66% of which came before the neoliberal-created crisis of 2007-2008.

This is exactly what the system needs. Spain is ready for the new economic collapse staged with the connivance of the country's leadership. Another round of rent-seeking is coming - more privatization, more cuts to wages and pensions. Everything is as usual. And again - look at Greece, then the scheme will become clear to you. Wall Street appetites are insatiable. We are enslaved by the fraudulent economy of the dollar (euro), which leads to human tragedies. And people, it seems, do not even notice who and what is behind the planned misfortunes. Spain will again be “milked”. This country is an important member of NATO. There are three military bases here. The majority of the population hates NATO and would like to get rid of it. And what is the best way to convince people that NATO forces are reliable defenders against Islamist attacks? Well, yes, if you are weak, then you will fearfully accept (almost) anything. In fact, you call on your hangman to protect you.

Therefore, there is no need to divert attention to the empty and hypocritical words of sadness from the supreme vassal leaders, who are slowly but surely leading the peoples of Europe to enslavement. We are already firmly on this path. Didn't you notice it.

It is called " fascism with a smile". This slowly advancing, but deadly, fascism enchants you at every corner, it pulls you deeper and deeper - until you pass the point of no return. This fascism is neoliberal, it overrides and disregards any laws and regulations that might protect you and your hard-earned savings and public assets.

Do you think this won't happen to you? Look at Greece. I guarantee it. Unless you take back power in your country and make it YOUR sovereign country again. Better to act sooner rather than later. Time is running out.

Naturally, the situation will someday become unbearable. And when you can't take it anymore, you'll have to take to the streets. But it will be too late. Forces trained for street fighting will be ready to act against you.

"Fascism with a smile" has already brought you to the point of no return. This is a new kind of fascism. He is not Hitler. It's soft, subtle, and deadly - if you resist it. You are being manipulated by the Matrix, surrounded by police and military ready to fire. But you'll be fine as long as you bow your head in agreement.

Barcelona, ​​Nice, London, Berlin, Munich, Paris, Brussels, Stockholm... How many more of these little pebbles of an expanding mosaic will there be. Try to look at what the big picture will look like when it's finished. She will be terrible.

Reflect on the message of Mr. Putin king of spain Felipe VI: “We strongly condemn this cruel and cynical crime committed against civilians. The incident once again confirms the need for a real unification of the efforts of the entire world community in an uncompromising struggle against the forces of terror.”

Mr Putin did not mention Islam. He knows that he is talking to Western leaders who are in the same bed as terrorists, and trying to get them out of this bed is a pipe dream. They are all bought and sold - with heavenly promises - to drive this system of terror to the end, to One World Order. Or, as the President of India once eloquently put it modi, "until the world is, in the end, one happy family." Here it is!

But this is not the end. There is an alternative. Western world is a sinking ship. Slowly sinking and smiling - like the fascism that drives them. We may not notice it. But look around - at the massacres, fraud, illegality at every turn up to the highest levels of power. And forget the presstitutes in the mainstream media. They all lie.

Almost everyone understands this today. The next few centuries are the Ages of the East. Russia and China open the gates for the World Economy, which will be led by the President's initiative Xi Jinping"One Belt Initiative". The new "Silk Road" will stretch from Shanghai to Hamburg and from Vladivostok to Lisbon, connecting Syria and Iran in the south.

And a dying beast will not want to leave the living on our planet.

Copyright © Peter Koenig, 2017

Translation Sergei Dukhanov .

* The Islamic State movement was recognized by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on December 29, 2014 as a terrorist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.

** New American Century Project Project for the New American Century(PNAC) listen) is a US non-governmental political organization based in Washington, D.C., operating from 1997 to 2006. It was founded by William Kristol and Robert Kagan. The official goal of PNAC is to "advance American global leadership." The foundations of PNAC's creation were the view that "American leadership is as good for America as it is for the world" and support for "Reagan's policy of military force and moral integrity." PNAC influenced officials in the US government and the administration of US President George W. Bush and influenced the development of the Bush administration's military and foreign policy, especially those related to national security and the war in Iraq.

*** "Al-Qaeda" by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003 was recognized as a terrorist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.

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On August 17, a van drove into a crowd of people in the center of Barcelona. As a result, there were 13 dead and more than 100 injured. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS, banned in the Russian Federation).

Spain tightened its counter-terrorism strategy after the 2004 terrorist attack in Madrid, writes . Further tightening of security measures took place in 2015. Particular attention was paid to areas popular with tourists. In the past few years, Spanish intelligence agencies have focused on identifying Islamist radicals with links to IS. Between 2013 and 2016 authorities detained 130 people on suspicion of terrorist activities.

Arrest of those suspected of financing Islamic radicals. Spain, 2016

In its foreign policy, Spain also tried to protect itself from terrorist attacks. After the terrorist attack in Madrid, Spanish politicians were extremely skeptical about the operations carried out by the US and NATO in countries like Libya and Mali. This was motivated by the fact that such interventions play into the hands of extremist leaders, who use it as a means of anti-Western propaganda. However, the attack on Thursday in Barcelona indicates that all these measures are not enough.

Writes that the attack in Barcelona continues a series of terrorist attacks using vehicles. The largest terrorist attack of its kind was in France, in Nice, where a truck crashed into a crowd of people walking on Bastille Day (July 14, 2016), killing at least 84 people. After that, on December 19, there was a similar attack on the Christmas market in Berlin. Then 12 people died and more than 50 were injured. This attack was one of the largest in Germany.

Screenshot of Instagram video

On March 22, 2016, five people were killed and more than 50 were injured when a car crashed into a stream of passengers on Westminster Bridge in London. On April 7, a truck crashed into a crowd in the center of Stockholm, killing four. On June 3, there was another similar terrorist attack in London, this time on London Bridge (8 dead, dozens injured). On June 19, also in London, a car hit a group of people near a mosque (one was killed, ten more were injured). On August 9, in the suburbs of Paris, a car attacked a group of patrolmen, as a result of which three were injured.

He writes that the use of vehicles in terrorist attacks is bad not only because it makes it difficult to prevent such cases, but also because it contributes to whipping up panic. By using a conventional vehicle rather than a specially crafted device as the murder weapon, it undermines the general feeling of safety based on the expectation that drivers on the street are at least trying to obey the rules of the road. The effect is enhanced by the fact that such attacks are spontaneous and can be organized anywhere.

The author also considered it necessary to stipulate that when under the influence of this kind of fear in society, the alienation of citizens among themselves grows, and they begin to sympathize with authoritarian politics, ready to sacrifice their civil liberties for the sake of security. In conclusion, the author notes that the latest wave of terrorist attacks in Europe has already begun to affect the structure of cities. This is manifested in the increase in the number of fences and barriers designed to protect people from attack by ordinary objects.

So far, police have detained four people in connection with the attacks: three Moroccans and one Spaniard. The search continues for the driver of the minivan who carried out the attack in Barcelona. Presumably he was Moussa Ukabir. He, according to El Pais, is 17-18 years old. Initially, police suspected his older brother, 28-year-old Driss Oukabir, as documents bearing that name were found in the minivan. However, on Thursday, he himself came to the police of the town of Ripoll and said that his documents had been stolen. Using them, his younger brother could rent two cars. Oukabir Senior is a Moroccan citizen with a residence permit in Spain. He is known to the police as he spent a short time in prison in 2012 for sexual harassment. Less is known about the younger brother. The El Mundo newspaper writes that Moussa wrote on the Kiwi social network two years ago that "on his first day as king of the world," the first thing he would do would be "kill the infidels and leave only the Muslims who adhere to the religion."

Moussa Oukabir (Photo: Spanish Police / EPA)

The police do not rule out that the participants in the attacks were part of one terrorist cell of up to 12 people, writes the Spanish newspaper El Pais. Their headquarters were most likely in Alcanara, a police spokesman said at a press conference on Friday, according to Reuters.

Affected from 34 countries

As a result of the terrorist attacks in Cambrils and Barcelona on Thursday, August 17, 14 people were killed and about 130 were injured.

Spain has been a member of the international coalition against ISIS (73 countries led by the US) since its formation in September 2014. At the moment, according to the information provided on the website of the coalition, the Spanish military contingent deployed in Iraq has 300 people, they are engaged in training and training of the Iraqi security forces. "A relatively small number" of Spanish nationals are fighting on the side of ISIS, the coalition's website notes.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called the latest attacks "jihadist terror." Whether Spain will refuse to participate in the coalition, he did not say.

The level of terrorist threat in the country was raised in June 2015 to the fourth of five possible levels (the highest is the fifth). Spain has arrested 51 people suspected of jihadist links this year, up from 69 last year and 75 in 2015, according to El Pais statistics. The Spanish Interior Ministry on Saturday will consider the possibility of raising the level of terrorist threat to the fifth.

Contribution to the coalition

Of the countries that are part of the international coalition against ISIS and have become victims of recent terrorist attacks, Spain is not the most active. For example, there are 1,100 people from the UK in the coalition who are participating in hostilities. However, Sweden, in the capital of which a truck ran over passers-by on April 7, is represented in the coalition by only 35 soldiers. 13,500 Iraqi soldiers from the 92nd and 93rd brigades of the Iraqi armed forces have already been trained by Spanish instructors at the Basmaya military base in Baghdad. The Spanish special forces unit is also training Iraqi-Kurdish troops in the city of Taji, 27 km north of Baghdad.

Spain is part of the working group of the coalition on countering the financing of ISIS, whose activities are aimed at cutting off the money flows of terrorists, as well as the elimination of the group's oil revenues. As part of the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2253, Spain has adapted its regulatory framework to prevent any activity related to the financing of terrorism. The country also plays an active role in the coalition working group on foreign-born fighters: Madrid provides expert assistance to the group based on close cooperation with third countries, including Morocco.

Police in Madrid (Photo: Juan Medina/Reuters)

The Al-Andalus region (the part of the Iberian Peninsula occupied by Muslims in the 8th-15th centuries was known under this name) often appears in radical Islamic propaganda; Evgenia Gvozdeva, program director of the European Center for Strategic Studies and Security, expert of the Valdai Club, recalls what the militants’ policy statements say: “In its propaganda, IS constantly says that “Al-Andalus will again be Muslim, and Muslims will be in Rome ". These two symbolic goals were set by IS a long time ago. Therefore, despite the fact that the terrorist attack is a shock, we cannot say that it is completely unpredictable today.”

However, former Israeli Foreign Minister, co-founder and vice-president of the International Center for Peace in Toledo, Spain, and Valdai Discussion Club expert Shlomo Ben-Ami believes that there was no particular strategic reason for the attack in Barcelona: where is IS able to find supporters among the local residents, where it begins to act. Spain has never been at the forefront of the war against IS, so there was no particular reason to “punish” it, but this country is a member of NATO and the EU, and the jihadists managed to find suitable conditions and people to create a terrorist cell and further actions. The expert draws attention to the fact that as the territorial base in Iraq and Syria is lost, the group aims to turn into a global terrorist group, therefore it begins to carry out terrorist attacks in an increasing number of cities.

New Methods

Since the beginning of 2017, the attack in Barcelona is the seventh in which a car drove over a crowd was used. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said he intends to meet with European counterparts in September to discuss how to prevent such incidents from happening again. Nice was the first city where this method was tested by terrorists on July 14, 2016 (at that time 86 people died). Since then, according to The Guardian, the city has spent €30 million protecting places that could become potential targets. The easiest way to deal with such manifestations of terrorism is to install barriers that prevent the car from picking up speed or enclose crowded areas. So, near the building of the British Parliament in London, concrete blocks were installed, writes The Guardian.

Such attacks are the most difficult to prevent, Gvozdeva points out, since even standard methods such as wiretapping or gun control do not work. “As a rule, after such attacks using cars, the necessary measures are immediately taken: concrete blocks are installed at the entrances to tourist areas, more police squads are placed at administrative buildings, museums and other places visited by tourists. Of course, "barrier" measures allow you to protect a small specific area in a particular city. But they do not allow protecting the population as a whole and preventing similar attacks in the future, ”the expert warns.

The Guardian experts also draw attention to the fact that in the attacks of recent years, terrorists use improvised materials that they can find near their place of residence. Attacks like those of September 11, 2001 are not repeated.