On Sunday afternoon, the National Police hastily arrested a young man born in 2007 who lived with his Syrian refugee family in Montellano, a town in Seville with barely 7,000 inhabitants. The arrest, scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, was rushed after the officers found that in the morning the minor left home alone with a backpack to go to an open field on the outskirts of the town to test explosions , as police sources tell La Vanguardia. It was the rehearsal for the attack he allegedly intended to carry out at his high school, where he was repeating his 3rd year of ESO.
After being surprised by the officers, the boy was arrested. At that moment, rumors were unleashed among the neighbors, in the face of calls for calm from the local authorities, who decided not to suspend classes at the high school yesterday. Before proceeding to the search of the house, where he lived with his mother and a sister also under age, the Tedax had to inspect the home, because of the suspicion that there was more explosive material.
The suspicions were confirmed. According to the same sources close to the investigation, on the desk in the room, in plain sight, there were numerous jars of materials for making explosives, such as gunpowder, acetone, sulfuric acid or sulfur. The agents found a notebook with chemical formulas and photographs of weapons of different sizes. Among his belongings, there was also an ax hidden.
But, without a doubt, the find that most surprised the police in charge of the search was that of a bomb vest similar to the one prepared by the terrorists of the August 17, 2017 attack on La Rambla and Cambrils . The Police also found the clothes with which the Syrian minor allegedly intended to commit the terrorist attack, consisting of a suit and a black beret.
Faced with the findings at the home, the National Court – which coordinates the proceedings in secret – ordered the arrest of the child’s mother. There are indications that some of the canisters of explosive material were purchased by herself, in addition to the fact that she had online propaganda glorifying terrorist organizations, as yet unspecified.
The General Information Commissioner is now analyzing the contents of the detainee’s mobile phone. Some residents of Montellano explained to the media yesterday that the minor had sent a WhatsApp message to some colleagues with the text “tomorrow – for Monday – is the big day”. Mayor Curro Gil called for calm in the face of the concern generated in the town, with a message in which he assured that “there is no risk” after the arrest.
