MADRID, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Civil Guards have arrested a fifth person with suspected links to the terrorist cell that carried out the attacks on La Rambla in Catalonia on Aug. 17 and in the nearby town of Cambrils the following morning which left 16 people dead and over 120 injured.
The Spanish Interior Ministry confirmed that the arrest took place in the town of Vinaros, in the Province of Castellon, which is between Barcelona and Valencia on the east coast of Spain.
The person arrested is described as a "young man of Moroccan origin," and he is thought to have helped the terrorist cell prepare explosives in a house they had rented in the town of Alcaner.
The ministry said the 24-year old "maintained a close relationship with several of the terrorists, especially Abdelbaki Es Satty."
Es Satty was the driving force behind forming and motivating the cell and was killed along with another member when the explosives they were preparing blew up destroying the house in Alcaner, in the early hours of the morning of Aug. 16.
The Civil Guards are investigating if the new detainee participated in the acquisition of the substances which allowed the fabrication of over 100 kilos of the explosive TATP (triacetone triperoxide).
"Various members of the cell counter on the support of the man detained today," continued the communique, which added the man arrested "facilitated his documents to allow them to purchase hydrogen peroxide," which is vital in manufacturing TRTP. Meanwhile he also "put means of transport at the disposition of the terrorists."
Eight members of the 12-man cell are now dead, with six shot by security forces and two dying in Alcaner. The other four suspected members were detained by the police, two of whom are currently in prison and the other two have been released. Friday's new detention raises the number of arrests to five.
