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Attempted knife attack in Spanish police station treated as terrorist act

A man uttering the word ‘Allah’ lunged at an female officer in a police station near Barcelona, Spain

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Officers take part in the search of the residential building where the attacker lived in Cornella, Spain. Photo: EPA-EFE
Reuters

A man, wielding a knife and uttering the word “Allah” lunged at an officer in a police station near Barcelona, Spain, on Monday in what police said was a terrorist act, and was shot dead.

Police said the man entered the station in Cornella, in the northeastern region of Catalonia, shortly before 0400 GMT, seeking information.

He then leapt towards a female officer, brandishing a large knife, they said. The attacker, identified only as living in Cornella, was shot dead.

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Several fences block the access to a regional police of the town Cornella, Spain after the police shot dead a man who entered in the building holding a knife on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE
Several fences block the access to a regional police of the town Cornella, Spain after the police shot dead a man who entered in the building holding a knife on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

“The officer can only remember that he used the word Allah, the other words were incomprehensible,” regional investigating police chief Rafel Comas told a news conference. “On this evidence, for the moment, we are treating it as a terrorist attack.”

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The Arabic phrase “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) has often been used by jihadist attackers.

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