Barcelona terror attack: Four suspected terrorists shot dead, says police

Catalonia: Spanish police said that they had shot dead 'four suspected terrorists' and left another injured early Friday in Cambrils, a city south of Barcelona where a van mowed into pedestrians on Thursday, killing 13 people.

The regional government of Catalonia, where both Barcelona and Cambrils are located, also confirmed the incident, which police had earlier qualified as a "possible terrorist attack."

Earlier on Thursday, the Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for an attack in which a van ran over pedestrians here in Las Ramblas boulevard. At least 13 persons were killed and more than 100 injured.

Confirming the death toll, Head of Catalonia's Regional Interior Department Joaquim Forn said in a tweet on Thursday: "My strongest condemnation of the terrorist attack in Barcelona. We can confirm 13 deaths."He added that 15 of the injured were in serious condition and that the death toll was likely to rise, Efe news reported.

Claiming the attack, jihadi-affiliated news agency Amaq said the attackers were "soldiers of Islamic State".

"We're united in grief," Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said in a televised address after rushing to Barcelona, the biggest city in Catalonia, a region in Spain's northeast whose separatist government is defying Madrid.

"Above all, we're united in the firm intention to defeat those who want to take our values and way of life from us, "Rajoy added. 

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has confirmed that there is no report of any Indian casualty in the attack. Indians, who are in an emergency, can contact the Indian embassy in Spain at +34-608769335.

I am in constant touch with Indian Embassy in Spain @IndiainSpain. As of now, there is no report of an Indian casualty. — Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) August 17, 2017

"I am in constant touch with Indian Embassy in Spain. As of now, there is no report of an Indian casualty," Swaraj tweeted.

However, Thursday's attack drew condemnation from across the globe.

US President Donald Trump condemned the "terror attack" and said the United States will do whatever is necessary to help", adding: "Be tough & strong, we love you!"

French President Emmanuel Macron -- whose country has witnessed a series of bloody jihadist atrocities including a truck rampage in Nice in July 2016 that killed 86 people -- said his thoughts were with the victims of the "tragic attack".

The Nice carnage and other assaults including the 2015 shootings and bombings on Paris nightspots were claimed by the Islamic State, but it is believed to be the first IS claim of an attack in Spain.

Catalonia has the highest concentration of radicalised Islamists in the country along with Madrid and the Spanish territories of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Morocco.

According to the interior ministry, more than 190 "jihadist terrorists" have been arrested since 2015, most of them for propaganda, recruitment for extremist groups or "glorifying terrorism."

(With inputs from agencies)