The imam who was killed in the explosion in a house in Alkanar last weekend, Abdelbaki Es Satty, was the mastermind behind the coordinated terror attacks which took place in Barcelona and Cambris, according to testimony by four members of the terror cell who were arrested.
The imam initiated the attack in Barcelona in which 15 people were killed and more than 80 were injured. ES Satty has also been formally linked to the 2004 Madrid train bombings and spent three months in Belgium at the time of the Brussels attacks.
Police said about 120 butane gas cylinders were found at the house where the imam was killed and believe he was plotting a much bigger attack, but the accidental explosion prompted the remaining group of militants to carry out a less elaborate plan.