4 surviving suspects in Barcelona attack appear in court

A woman hugs a Muslim boy on the historic Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain, Monday Aug. 21, 2017. The lone fugitive from the Spanish cell that killed 15 people in and near Barcelona was shot to death Monday after he flashed what turned out to be a fake suicide belt at two troopers who confronted him in a vineyard just outside the city he terrorized, authorities said. (Photo by SANTI PALACIOS / AP)

MADRID — Four alleged members of a terror cell accused of killing 15 people in attacks in Barcelona and a Spanish resort appeared in court Tuesday, a day after the last missing member of the cell was gunned down by police near Barcelona.

The four men were arrested last week for their alleged involvement in the planning or execution of attacks in Barcelona on Thursday and the northeastern resort town of Cambrils early Friday.

They were to testify before National Court Judge Fernando Andreu in Madrid, who will decide whether they should be jailed or released.

Spanish media have named the suspects as Driss Oukabir, Mohammed Aalla, Salh el Karib and Mohamed Houli Chemal. Police have not yet confirmed their names.

Three were arrested in the northern Catalan town of Ripoll and another in Alcanar, south of Barcelona, where a house that was blown apart turned out to be a botched bomb-making workshop.

The lone fugitive from the cell was shot to death Monday after he flashed what turned out to be a fake suicide belt at two troopers who confronted him in a vineyard not far from the city he terrorized.

Police said they had “scientific evidence” that the fugitive Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, drove the van that barreled through Barcelona’s crowded Las Ramblas promenade, killing 13 people, then hijacked a car and fatally stabbed its driver while making his getaway.

Abouyaaqoub’s brother and friends made up the rest of the 12-man extremist cell, along with an imam who was one of two people killed in the Alcanar house.

Police said that with Abouyaaqoub’s death, the group responsible for last week’s fatal van attacks are all dead or in custody.

Five of the 12 were shot dead by police in the seaside town of Cambrils, where a second van attack left one pedestrian dead hours after the Barcelona van attack.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for both the Cambrils and Barcelona attacks.