Web Report

Barcelona: Victims of the deadly van attacks in Spain on Thursday and early Friday included citizens of 24 nations, including Pakistan and the Philippines, the government authorities confirmed Friday.
The deadly attack left 13 dead and around 100 injured. The injured and dead came from at least 20 countries, ranging from France and Germany to Pakistan and the Philippines, the Catalan government said on Friday.
People from Australia, Taiwan and Hong Kong had also been confirmed among the injured in the Barcelona attack. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that 26 of the victims are French citizens, at least 11 of whom are in a serious condition.
The German Foreign Ministry spokesperson said 13 German citizens were among those injured when a suspected militant drove a van into crowds in Barcelona on Thursday.
It is reported that some of the Germans had been injured very seriously. He said he could neither confirm nor rule out at this point that Germans were among the dead.
It was the deadliest attack in Spain since March 2004, when militants placed bombs on commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people and wounding more than 1,800.
The UAE and other Arab countries immediately condemned the attacks, vowed to continue the fight against violence and “scourge” of extremism, which poses a threat to the security and stability of the world.
Before the van ploughed into the tree-lined walkway of Las Ramblas, one person was killed in an explosion in a house in a separate town southwest of Barcelona, police said. Residents there were preparing explosives, a police source added.
Police said they had arrested two men, a Moroccan and a man from Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla, though neither was the van driver. They added that the situation in Cambrils was under control.
It was still not clear how many people had been involved in the van attack and other incidents on Thursday. – abdulbasit@theuaenews.com