Offline, cultlike, Spain terror cell evaded detection

MADRID: The jihadist cell behind last week’s twin attacks in Spain was built around a “guru” and went completely offline to avoid detection by anti-terrorist police, experts said.

The group managed to evade authorities so well that even a giant explosion at their bomb factory in Alcanar, where police later uncovered massive quantities of ingredients to build TATP, was not at first linked to the jihadists. Investigators only made the connection after their vehicle rampages in Barcelona and the nearby seaside town of Cambrils