Police in Spain have raided the house of a Moroccan man who was arrested over machete assaults at two church buildings that left a church employee useless and a priest critically injured within the southern metropolis of Algeciras.
Officers are nonetheless trying into the motive of the assault, however a National Court decide is investigating it as a potential act of terrorism.
The suspect, recognized as 25-year-old Yassine Kanjaa, is believed to have acted alone.
Police searched his residence to “determine the nature, terrorist or otherwise”, of the assault, based on Spanish inside minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The inside ministry mentioned the suspect is a Moroccan citizen with no prior prison report “in Spain or any other country”.
It added that the suspect had been underneath a deportation order since June final yr due to his unauthorised migrant standing in Spain.
Kanjaa had beforehand been arrested in neighbouring Gibraltar, which sits throughout a bay from Algeciras, in August 2019 when he tried to “come ashore from a jet-ski without the necessary documentation”, authorities mentioned. He was deported days later.
Wednesday evening’s assaults have shaken the multicultural metropolis situated close to the southern tip of Spain.
Witnesses declare that within the second incident, the attacker jumped on the altar of the Church of Nuestra Senora de La Palma, wielding a machete.
He then attacked a church employee who was getting ready Mass contained in the church and chased him right into a city sq. earlier than killing him.
Earlier, a priest had been wounded on the San Isidro church, simply minutes away from Nuestra Senora de La Palma.
The injured priest, Antonio Rodriguez, is now again in his neighborhood following the ordeal.
The Algeciras city corridor recognized the useless church employee as Diego Valencia.
Another man who labored alongside Mr Valencia on the church, Manolo Gonzalez, mentioned the suspect climbed on the altar and Mr Valencia got here out “and asked to know what was going on”.
Candles and flowers adorned the 2 small church buildings with whitewashed partitions on Thursday, whereas flags have been flown at half-mast in Algeciras.
A minute’s silence and a vigil have been additionally noticed by the neighborhood, together with a big contingent from the town’s Moroccan inhabitants.
The household of sufferer Mr Valencia gathered inside Nuestra Senora de La Palma to obtain the condolences of minister Mr Grande-Marlaska and anxious residents.
The cosmopolitan port metropolis of Algeciras is the primary level of arrival for a lot of boats and ferries from North Africa, prompting governmental debates on irregular migration.
The Islamic Commission of Spain, which represents Muslims within the nation, condemned the “abominable, murderous and heartless act” in “a sacred space for our Catholic brothers in Algeciras”.
Source: information.sky.com”