Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the van attack in Barcelona on Thursday that has killed at least 13 people was “jihadist terrorism” which required a global response.
“Today the fight against terrorism is the principal priority for free and open societies like ours. It is a global threat and the response has to be global,” Rajoy told a news conference in Barcelona.
He said he would call on other Spanish political parties to reaffirm the country’s anti-terrorism pact.
Catalonia’s regional government said 100 people were also injured and the death toll could rise. Two people were arrested in connection with the killings — but the perpetrator wasn’t one of them, Catalan officials told a news conference. Police raised the possibility that an explosion at a home earlier on Thursday that killed one person and brought down a building may be connected to the attack.
The driver mowed into the pedestrianized
