Tried for the murder of a sexton during a machete attack committed in two churches in Algeciras (Spain) on Wednesday January 25, a 25-year-old Moroccan was accused of “terrorism” and remanded in custody on Monday by the Madrid court in charge of the case.
An act described as a “jihadist attack”. Judged for the murder of a sexton In a machete attack in two churches in Algeciras (Spain) on Wednesday January 25, a 25-year-old Moroccan man was accused of “terrorismand remanded in custody on Monday.
The National Audience, the Madrid court in charge of the case, retained the facts of “assassination and injuries for terrorist purposes” against the suspect named Yassine Kanjaa. This same source specified that the assault led by the latter could be described as a “jihadist attack” targeting representatives of the “Catholic Church”.
A “conscious” attack
According to the first elements of the investigation, Yassine Kanjaa acted “consciously” in order to cause “major damage”. He “deliberately” targeted religious people and then a person he considered “infidel”, namely a Moroccan who he accused of distancing himself from Islam.
The investigators were able to reach these conclusions thanks to the statements made by the suspect during his jail and those around him. This information, proving the “deliberate” nature of the attack, could be cross-checked with the various elements found on his mobile phone.
These discoveries attested to the “jihadist” action of the assailant, who wanted to provoke “terror within society” even if he acted “alone” and unrelated to a determined terrorist organization”, according to the ‘National Audience.
One dead and one seriously injured in the attack
This Wednesday, Yassine Kanjaa attacked with a machete the priest of the San Isidro church in Algeciras, Andalusia, shortly after 7 p.m. Heavily injured in the neck in the assault, the victim, aged 74, was hospitalized.
The 25-year-old man then fatally attacked with the same weapon a sixty-year-old sexton in the nearby Nuestra Señora de La Palma church. According to the National Audience, three other people were injured during the various attacks perpetrated on Wednesday.
Immediately arrested after the fact, the suspect was not known to the intelligence services, according to the Ministry of the Interior. On the other hand, he had been the subject of an expulsion procedure for irregular situation since June, according to local authorities.
