Update 2: The explosive belts worn by attackers killed by police in the Catalan resort town of Cambrils were fake, the Spanish region's head Carles Puigdemont told local radio station RAC1 on Friday. A suspected Islamist militant drove a van into crowds in Barcelona, killing 13 people on Thursday, and police also said they had killed five attackers later that evening in Cambrils to thwart a separate attack using explosive belts. Puigdemont said bomb experts had now confirmed the explosive belts were duds.

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Update: The police force for Spain’s Catalonia region says its troopers shot and killed four suspects and wounded a fifth in a resort town south of Barcelona to “respond to a terrorist attack.” The regional police said in a tweet that they are investigating whether the Cambrils suspects were wearing explosive vests. Its officers planned to carry out several controlled explosions. The force says it is working on the theory that the Cambrils suspects were linked to the Barcelona attack, as well as to a Wednesday night explosion in the town of Alcanar in which one person was killed.

Subsequently, the police said the fifth suspect shot in the resort town of Cambrils has died and six civilians have been injured. Police earlier Friday morning had said four suspects had been killed in the town south of Barcelona during a police operation to “respond to a terrorist attack.”



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Spanish police have shot and killed four people while carrying out an operation in response to what was reportedly another terrorist attack in a town south of Barcelon .

The regional police for the Catalonia region said on Twitter early on Friday that officers are in Cambrils, a seaside resort town about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Barcelona, where they are dealing with a "possible terror attack."

L'operatiu policial a #Cambrils provoca retencions a vies properes a a #Tarragona #AP7

DEMANEM PACIÈNCIA DAVANT SITUACIÓ EXCEPCIONAL — EmergènciesCatalunya (@emergenciescat) August 18, 2017

Videos capturing the shooting and the immediate aftermath were distributed on twitter:



The military operation was announced around midnight local time, when the Catalonia emergency service tweeted: "IF YOU'RE NOW IN £Cambrils avoid going out. Stay home, stay safe. Police operation ongoing."

The service urged people in the town not to go out on the streets.

IF YOU'RE NOW IN #Cambrils avoid going out. Stay home, stay safe. Police operation ongoing — EmergènciesCatalunya (@emergenciescat) August 17, 2017

As AP reports citing Spain's RTVE, regional police troopers killed four people and injured another seven. The broadcaster added that the police suspected they were planning an attack in Cambrils just hours after a van swerved onto a pedestrian promenade in Barcelona, killing 13.

It also adds that according to police sources, "the terrorists carried explosives attached to the body." The broadcaster said the suspects tried to carry out a similar attack to the one in Barcelona.

Which begs the question: has Spain become the focal point of another suicide bombing terrorist cell?

Developing.