Melilla government cannot confirm or deny border attack is "terrorist action"

Record ID: 904042

  • Title: Melilla government cannot confirm or deny border attack is "terrorist action"
  • Date: 25th July 2017
  • Summary: MELILLA, SPAIN (JULY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SPANISH GOVERNMENT DELEGATE IN MELILLA, ABDELMALIK EL BARKANI, SAYING: "We are investigating the background of this person and the circumstances surrounding the incident before determining what exactly happened, therefore we cannot confirm or deny that this is a terrorist action. It is true he shouts in Arabic, 'God is greatest,' but allow me to be prudent and objective and not give you more information than what we have."
  • Embargoed: 8th August 2017 13:37
  • Keywords: Melilla knife attack Beni Enzar
  • Location: MELILLA, SPAIN
  • City: MELILLA, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
  • Reuters ID: LVA0046R7UPMV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The delegate of the Spanish government in Melilla said he could not "confirm or deny...a terrorist action" after a man threatened police with a knife at the border between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Tuesday (July 25).
    The man, believed to be Moroccan, approached the border at Beni Enzar at 7:35 a.m. and shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is Greatest) as he threatened police with a knife before he was brought down by policemen. One policeman was cut on the hand during the incident.
    Abdelmalik El Barkani said an investigation into the background and the circumstances surrounding the attack had to be completed before any conclusion was drawn.
    Closed circuit television footage showed the man, dressed in a blue shirt and white shorts, walking across the border, waving the knife. Spanish police keep their distance before one officer runs up behind him and knocks him to the ground by striking him on the head with a white traffic bollard. Once felled, the man is tackled by several police and detained.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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