Suspect in Barcelona van attack killed by police in Spain

BARCELONA — Police in Spain have confirmed that the fugitive being sought in connection with the Barcelona van attack has been shot and killed.

Younes Abouyaaqoub has been shot down in Subirats, small town outside the city.

In a tweet, the Catalan regional police say Abouyaaqoub was the suspect wearing an explosives belt who was shot Monday afternoon. Abouyaaqoub had been the subject of a massive manhunt since the attack Thursday in Barcelona that killed 13 people and wounded over 120.

Authorities say they now have evidence Abouyaaqoub drove the van that plowed down the city’s famed Las Ramblas promenade, killing 13 pedestrians and injuring more than 120 others.

Spain’s interior minister is meeting with representatives of almost all political parties to brief them about the investigation into the deadly attacks.

It was the first time the anti-terror group has met since the deadly attacks in the French city of Nice last year. The governing Popular Party and the main opposition Socialists set up the group in 2015.

Lawmakers of all other parliamentary parties are attending the meeting in Madrid, either as participants or as observers, except for a coalition of Basque nationalist parties who have criticized the government’s anti-terrorism policies.

Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido was expected to explain the decision to not upgrade the country’s terrorism alert level after the attacks in Barcelona and a nearby coastal town.