Nestled in the foot-hills of the Pyrenees mountains, Ripoll appears to be a small, sleepy town where the 1,000-strong north African immigrant population rub along gently with their Spanish neighbours.

But the picturesque village is now at the heart of an international terror investigation after it was revealed at least 11 suspected members of the cell which killed 14 and injured 130 were living here before join terror attacks in Spain this week.

Imam Abdelbaki Es Satty, who is thought to be the mastermind of the plot, preached at a mosque in the south of the city, just a 15 minute walk from the apartment where suspected Barcelona van driver Younes Abouyaacoub lived.

Moussa Oukabir also rented an apartment just a few streets from the mosque which he shared with Mohamed Hychami before the pair were shot dead on Friday morning as they launched a car and knife attack in Cambrils.

They were killed alongside Omar Hychami and Mohamed Houli Chemlal, both from Ripoll, and Said Aallaa who was from Ribes de Freser, which is a short distance away.

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Much of the terror cell lived within a short distance of each other in Ripoll, northern Spain

Moussa Oukabir, left, was shot dead by Spanish police in Cambrils on Thursday. He lived in the same apartment complex as Mohamed Hychami, right, who was also shot dead by police

The pair lived together in this apartment block, just a few streets away from the mosque where suspected plot mastermind Es Satty preached

Meanwhile Salah El Karib, Mohamad Aallaa and a third unknown suspect who has not yet been identified were arrested at their homes in the north end of the town in the wake of the atrocity.

Driss Oubakir, the brother of Moussa, was also arrested in Ripoll after his identity was apparently stolen in order to rent the van used in the attack.

Satty is thought to have died in an explosion at a house in Alcanar on Wednesday, 180 miles to the south.

Police believe the property was being used as a bomb-making factory to carry out a much larger atrocity before it was accidentally destroyed.

Youssef Aallaa is thought to have died alongside Satty, while suspected bomb-maker Mohamed Houli Chemlal was pulled from the rubble and is now in custody.

News of the group's activities has deeply shaken the community in Ripoll, where almost one in ten people is an immigrant - largely from Morocco and drawn to work in the metal and textiles factories that dot the town's outskirts.

While the two communities have peacefully coexisted for years, now fearful voices talk in Spanish and Arabic on the streets of the attacks and what it will mean for their own lives.

‘I cannot believe it. We know these people, these boys,' one woman said. 'They are normal people, they are not killers. What could have happened to them to make them do this?’

Ripoll Mayor Jordi Munell underlined the sense of shock many feel here when he said: ‘There are only about 11,000 of us and only 9 per cent are immigrants. We practically all know each other.’

As with so many other terror attacks in recent years, testimony from the families of the attackers suggest they had no real interest in Islam or religion in general until being radicalised shortly before carrying out their atrocities.

The father of Moussa Oukabir has revealed that his 17-year-old son lived a 'normal' non-religious life, attending school at playing football for the local club, until he recently started to pray regularly.

He claims the same is true of his oldest son Driss Oukabir - who was aged ten when the family moved from Morocco to join their father in Spain and is still being questioned by anti-terrorist police.

Said Oukabir told Spanish media: ‘I can’t accept the fact that my sons are main suspects of a terrorist attack.

‘I never noticed any sing of radicalisation in their behaviours. They live just like other boys at their age.

Spanish police are hunting Younis Abouyaacoub (left) who is believed to be part of the terror cell which struck on Thursday. Pictured right is his brother Houssaine, who was shot dead

A CCTV image of Younis Abouyaaqoub, pictured, was released by Spanish police hours before Thursday's attack taken from a bank in Ripoll

‘Mousa was a nice boy. He never hurt anyone. He had been focused on their studies and was willing to pass the baccalaureate exam next year.

‘Recently however he started praying in a regular way. He never missed the time of his prayers.

‘But it was limited to praying, he did not go further. Moussa was young, and not mature yet. I think someone messed with his mind.’

Hechami Gasi, the father of Omar and Mohamed Hychami who were shot dead in Cambrils, pointed the finger of blame at Imam Es Satty as he claimed they must have been brainwashed because they were ‘good boys.’

He told Catalan daily La Vanguardia from his home in Ripoll: 'I don’t how they could have committed such evil, so much damage.

'I don’t know what they did to my boys’ heads. I can assure you they were good boys, normal boys.

'One worked in an important company in the area called Conforsa and the other was a welder in the town of Vic.

'I don’t understand what has happened . I don’t know what to feel. They are my sons but look at the evil they have done.'

Neighbours of fugitive terrorist Younis Abouyaacoub have told of their shock that the smiling 22-year-old was involved with the horrific terrorist outrage.

Mohamed Bernadi, who lives in the same block of flats as Abouyaacoub, said: ‘These [Younis and other terrorists] boys were always good people.

‘It’s a real shame what has happened. The religion [Islam], like other religions, is of peace and merciful. These boys are not this.’

Mr Bernadi said the suspected terrorist lived with his parents, his four-year-old and ten-year-old brothers, and his sister who is around five years old.

Juan Gallego, 47, said: 'I had no idea and he didn’t look like someone with this kind of ideology.

'He dressed normally - a regular guy, sometimes they dressed up for their celebrations. I assumed they were religious.

'I knew who he was but I didn’t know him personally. They have been living here for years.

'He was a normal person. You wouldn’t suspect that he could do a thing like this.

‘Everything that’s happened, it’s surprising, it’s strange.

'I mean, you don’t expect people like this to be in your own block, especially when they’re good people without a criminal record.’

Another neighbour added: They are like everyone here – totally normal people who are nice to everybody. It’s shocking.’

He said that Younes had not been seen since Thursday’s attack.

There is a heavy police presence around Ripoll following Thursday's terrorist attack

Omar Hychami was shot dead in Cambrils (left). Mohamed Houli Chemlal (right) was injured in the Alcanar blast and is under arrest. He is suspected of being the group's bomb-maker

Halima, the wife of Salh el Karib, who was arrested in Ripoll on Friday, has protested his innocence.

She told Spanish media: ‘We are all Muslims and we don’t like these attacks any more than anyone else.’

Other neighbours claim that the van used to kill and maim dozens in Las Ramblas had been parked in the street close to Abouyaaqoub’s home the night before the terrorist outrage.

Juan, 45, told MailOnline: ‘The white van that those sons of bitches used to kill people was parked here in the street the night before the attack.

‘It was the same van that was used in Las Ramblas. I recognized the van from the reports on the TV. I saw them pulling stickers off the side of the van.’

Meanwhile anti-terrorist police continued to monitor everyone entering and leaving Ripoll that fugitive Abouyaacoub other terror suspects called home.

Spanish interior minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said five members of the cell were shot dead, four were in custody and as many as two were killed in the explosion.

He said no new attacks were imminent, the country's terrorist threat alert will be maintained at level four, and security at popular events and tourist sites around the country will be reinforced.

Heavily armed officers carried out random searches of vehicles entering the small town in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains some 65 miles from Barcelona.

It has since emerged baby-faced terrorist Moussa Oukabir travelled to Morocco to 'say goodbye' to his family before taking part in last week’s Spanish atrocity.

Police believe the 17-year-old spent around 10 days in his parents’ homeland, Spanish daily La Razon said.

Claiming Oukabir, who posted online two years ago that he wanted to ‘kill the infidels’, is thought to have made his farewell trip to Morocco from August 3 to 13, the paper cited a police source as saying: 'Given his suicidal profile, he went to say goodbye to his family, a pre-requisite to become a Jihad hero.'

Reports about the goodbye trip of Moussa, initially identified as the driver of the van that killed 13 people on Las Ramblas, emerged as the father of two other terrorists admitted he was baffled by the 'damage' they had done.

Said Aalla. 18, anther of the terrorists believed to have been killed in Cambrils, was made class delegate at his school because of the ‘trust and confidence’ he commanded among his peers, it emerged today.

Youseff Aallaa, left is believed to have died in an explosion while making a bomb alongside Imam Abdelbaki Es Satty, right, who is thought to have radicalised the terrorrist cell

Well-respected Catalan daily El Periodico published a picture of him as a primary school pupil - smiling with a toothy grin as he stood alongside classmates in a blue school top over his jeans.

A former pupil of at the school of Omar Hychami and Mohamed Houli, 21, from Morocco, who has been named as one of the suspects under arrest after being injured in an explosion at a house in Alcanar 125 miles south west of Barcelona where bombs were being prepared, told the paper: 'I remember them speaking among themselves in Arabic.

'We used to say to them, "Hey, speak in Catalan" but always in a jokey way because they never gave us any cause for suspicion, quite the contrary.

'They were just normal classmates at that time. But now you can’t help asking yourself what on earth they were talking about, because of the barbaric things people say they have done.'

Police believe three people may have died in the blast although they are awaiting analysis of DNA samples.

Today it was claimed the Catalan terror attacks were organised from Syria, using ‘catalyst agents’ who are now filling the gap left by the ‘current inability’ of European-based terror cell chiefs to travel to the Middle East to take orders from ISIS leaders.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the the deadly Las Ramblas terror attack.

Respected Spanish daily La Razon, citing anti-terrorist sources, said: 'An indeterminate number of "catalysers" are now in countries like France, Belgium or Germany and their presence in Spain has not been ruled out.

'What experts have guaranteed is that at least one member of the "Las Ramblas cell" spoke to one of these individuals who gave them instructions on how and where they should commit the terror attacks.

'They also showed them how to make the explosive TATP that was being prepared, given that the jihadist leaders have discovered that with the manuals and videos that are out there online, people don’t learn enough.'

Meanwhile, anti-terror police have launched a raid on a property in Manlleu earlier today as part of the hunt for Abouyaaquob.

Close friends and associates of the fugitive live in Manlleu, according to Spanish media.

Police are believed to be searching the home of his best friend.