A man accused of working with ISIS has been sent to prison after planning a terrorist attack during an ElClasico at FC Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium.
Mohammed Yassin Amrani was accused of planning to use a drone containing explosives in a potentially devastating attack during an ElClasico between the Blaugrana and Real Madrid.
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According to Diario AS, a trial at the Spanish National High Court has concluded with Amrani accepting two charges related to self-training and self-indoctrination of the Islamic State doctrine, and will be sent to prison for three years.
The public prosecutor's office was said to have initially wanted a nine-year jail sentence handed to Amrani due to the wider threat of his alleged connection with the terrorist organisation.
It is claimed Amrani, a former bar worker, was radicalised during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and had direct contact with the terrorist group through social media, with one ISIS operative telling him he would have a place in heaven if he committed the crime in Spain to make up for shunning his religion and having drunk alcohol in the past, according to Barca Blaugranes.
Messages explaining how the accused, who was arrested in May 2020 before he undertake his "mission", could carry out the drone strike in Catalonia were read out in court, although no specific date for the planned attack was given as matches had been suspended due to the pandemic.
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According to Catalan newspaper El Periodico, Barca's stadium was the target of another potential terrorist attack in 2018 when a group of operatives entered the club's fan store, although this attempt was halted. In 2017, meanwhile, there was also attack in the city that left 13 dead and more than 100 people injured when a van driver went on the rampage in Barcelona's streets.
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