A suspect in the Spain terror attacks told his surviving brother he "had to do jihad involving war" before carrying out the rampages, according to reports.

Driss Oukabir, whose name the van that mowed down pedestrians in Barcelona was hired in, made the confession to a judge on Friday.

He admitted his younger sibling, Moussa, who died in the second attack in Cambrils, tried to hide his radicalisation in the weeks before the assaults, El Pais said.

Image: Seventeen people were killed in the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks

Oukabir claimed he noticed his brother praying more but avoiding their local mosque for fear it had been infiltrated by security services.

The 18-year-old Moroccan also downplayed his own role in the attacks, saying he had unknowingly rented the van used on Las Ramblas as a "favour".


Oukabir made the comments at a release hearing, which was subsequently denied.

Image: Driss Oukabir hired the van that injured over 100 on Las Ramblas

Judge Fernando Andreu told him he must have been "fully aware" of his 17-year-old brother's extremist views.

Moussa "would have suffered a religious exacerbation" reflected in his dress, hair style and religious habits, Judge Andreu said.

And he was accompanied to collect the van on a 60 mile trip by the "hardest core" of the terror cell - thought to be made up of 12 people.

Two charged over Spain attacks as one freed

Moussa was one of five men killed in Cambrils, their second target on the night of August 16.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the dual attacks that left 17 people dead and over 100 injured.