Several churchmen and bystanders were stabbed or slashed in a series of attacks, allegedly by a Moroccan male, in two different churches in Algeciras, Spain, on Wednesday night, leaving one dead and others seriously injured.
Two churches were the targets of what is thought to be a possible Islamist terror attack in Southern Spain on Wednesday evening. Several clergymen were attacked with what was described as a “sword” or “machete”, including sacristan Diego Valencia who was reported to have been killed.
Several others were injured, some seriously, including a priest. The alleged attacker, named as 25-year-old Moroccan citizen Yasine Kanjaa by major Spanish newspaper El Pais was arrested shortly after the attack.
Journalists stand on the square in front of the church where a man was killed the day before in Algeciras, southern Spain, on January 26, 2023. – Spain opened a terror probe on January 25 after a man wielding a bladed weapon stormed a church in southern Spain killing one and severely wounding a priest, legal sources told AFP. (Photo by CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP) (Photo by CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP via Getty Images)
According to reports, the alleged attacker had an argument with his neighbour at a squat where he lived about Islam before punching him in the face and leaving. Later, the same man is alleged to have engaged churchgoers in conversation about religion, telling them they should become Muslims. Later again, before half past seven in the evening (1230 EST) the man returned with a weapon and started attacking religious icons in a church, El Pais reports.
When the man was told to leave he is said to have attacked the church’s priest, stabbing him in the neck and shoulder.
The attack continued at another church nearby, where a service was underway. Again the knifeman was said to have attacked religious idols — idolatry is forbidden in Islam — before chasing sacristan Valencia down the street. Valencia was killed outside the town hall with blows to the head from the alleged weapon. Photographs from the scene show a body covered with a blanket in the town square.
Some of those injured are said to have attempted to prevent the killing. Specialist counterterror police are running the investigation into the killing, and reports are calling the slaying a “possible Islamist terror attack”.
TOPSHOT – The body of a dead man lays on the ground as police secure the area in Algeciras, southern Spain, on January 25, 2023. – Spain opened a terror probe on January 25 after a man wielding a bladed weapon stormed a church in southern Spain killing one and severely wounding a priest, legal sources told AFP. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
This story is developing, more follows.
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