The terrorist organization

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan The Pakistani Taliban, officially the Tehreek-i-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Durand Line, Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, i ...

planned a terror attack in the city of Barcelona, which was stopped a few days before they intended to perform it. They intended to conduct a

suicide bombing A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

on the

Barcelona Metro The Barcelona Metro (Catalan language, Catalan and Spanish language, Spanish: ) is a rapid transit network that runs mostly underground in central Barcelona and into the city's suburbs. It is part of the larger public transport system ...

. The metro plot was intended to become the first of a series attacks in Spain, Germany, France, Portugal and the United Kingdom as those countries contributed to the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

in Afghanistan, with the timing determined by al Qaeda making political demands through Taliban leader

Baitullah Mehsud Baitullah Mehsud ( – 5 August 2009) was a Pakistani militant. He was one of the founders and a leader of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) in Waziristan. He formed the TTP from an alliance of about five militant groups in December 2007.Abbas, Hassan ...

Arrests and indictment

Some 14 people – twelve Pakistanis and two Indians – were arrested between 18 and 19 January 2008 in the Raval multicultural neighborhood in Barcelona. The police searched four private homes, an industrial site turned into an Islamic prayer room and a bakery. One of the arrested cooperated with the intelligence services and became a protected witness. The police operation was authorized by

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; ) is a high court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in certain kinds of crime, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those committed against the Crown and i ...

court after receiving information from the

National Intelligence Centre National Intelligence Centre may refer to: * National Intelligence Centre (Mexico) * National Intelligence Centre (Spain) The National Intelligence Centre (, CNI) is the Spanish official intelligence agency, acting as both its foreign and d ...

(CNI). A number of books, pamphlets and other media containing radical Islamist ideas such as jihad and martyrdom were found by the

Guardia Civil The Civil Guard (; ) is one of the two national law enforcement agencies of Spain. As a national gendarmerie, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the authority of both the Ministry of the Interior and the Minis ...

. Of the 14 detained, all were subjected to detention without contact to the outside world and transferred to Madrid. Two were released without charges on 22 January and two were released on 23 January and the remaining ten, of which nine Pakistanis and one Indian, were unconditionally provisionally imprisoned. On 14 March 2009, another member of the group who had left Barcelona before the police operation was arrested in

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

city of

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. Eight of the suspects, Maroof Ahmed Mirza, Mohammad Ayub Elahi Bibi, Mohamed Tarik, Qadeer Malik, Hafeez Ahmed, Roshan Jamal Khan, Shaib Iqbal and Imram Cheemawere were accused of being members of a terrorist organization and possessing explosives. The last three, Mohammed Shoaib, Mehmooh Khalid and Aqueel Ur Rahmnan Abassi, were only accused of belonging to a terrorist organization. The charges were upheld by the

in a 9 October 2009 trial. The judge concluded the constituted an organized group adhering to extremist Islamist ideology. Six of the sentenced were legal immigrants to Spain and most of those had lived in Spain since 2001. Five others arrived to Spain in the months prior to the plot. Months later, the

Pakistani Taliban The Pakistani Taliban, officially the Tehreek-i-Taliban-e-Pakistan (TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007 by Baitullah Mehsud, its current ...

spokesman, claimed the attack in a video statement, which was posted on the Internet.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcelona terror plot Failed terrorist attempts in Europe 2008 crimes in Spain Taliban attacks Islamic terrorism in Spain Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Suicide bombings in Spain 2008 in Catalonia Terrorist incidents in Europe in 2008 Terrorist incidents in Spain in the 2000s 2000s in Barcelona January 2008 in Europe Barcelona Metro

Arrests and indictment

See also

References