Dreaded terrorist group ISIS has claimed responsibility for the deadly Barcelona attack that left at least 13 people dead after a suspect drove a van into a crowd on the famous La Ramblas. Later that night, police shot and killed five men in the coastal town of Cambrils – some of whom are reported to have been wearing explosive belts – after six bystanders and one police officer were also run over.
A statement was issued by the terrorist group’s media channel Amaq saying that “the perpetrators of Barcelona attack are (ISIS) soldiers and carried out the operation in response to appeals targeting coalition countries.” Spain is part of the international coalition lending military support and airpower to local Iraqi and Syrian forces forcing the group from its so-called caliphate.
Analysts have been quick to point out that verifying the culpability of the terror attack can be a tricky affair given that organisations that engage in terrorism are doing so from a position of weakness. And as such, there is always an incentive to lie in order to bolster mystique and inflate the image of threat. But historically, ISIS has typically been reliably truthful in what it claims to have been its actions.
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