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Barcelona Terror Attack: 'West Can’t Define Who's the Enemy: Daesh or Assad'

© AP Photo / Oriol DuranInjured people are treated in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017 after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Ramblas district, crashing into a summer crowd of residents and tourists and injuring several people, police said
Injured people are treated in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017 after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Ramblas district, crashing into a summer crowd of residents and tourists and injuring several people, police said - Sputnik International
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In the wake of Thursday’s terrorist attack in Spain that left 14 people dead and more than 100 injured, Sputnik Mundo discussed the issue with two analysts, who called for a united front against terrorism.

Andre Abeledo Fernandez said that by trying to destroy the established governments in Libya, Iraq and Syria, the West actually created an environment for terrorists to move in and fill the void.

“We also know that some of our purported allies, like Saudi Arabia and Turkey, support terrorists and this is something Europe should keep in mind. On the one hand, we are fighting terrorists, while on the other, we maintain friendly relations with countries that sponsor those very terrorists,” he noted.

Flowers in tribute to Barcelona attack victims - Sputnik International
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Andre Abeledo Fernandez also said the US’ and NATO’s actions [in Iraq, Libya and Syria] are a policy of destruction and plunder of local energy resources.

“We have overseen these countries’ devastation and have allowed this [terrorist] scum to reign supreme and now this is backfiring against us,” he emphasized.

He said that Russia and the West should join forces against Daesh, just like they did against Nazi Germany during WWII.

“We have no other choice than to set aside our strategic differences and work together with [Russia], which is successfully fighting Daesh in Syria,” he added.

In an interview with Sputnik, Colonel Rafael Gonzalez Crespo, a writer and an expert on Eastern Europe, said that since the majority of terrorist attacks have been staged by European Muslims, it means that the European policy of integration has been an abject failure.

“Among the huge number of migrants who have recently moved to Europe there are many Islamist extremists, and what we now see happning in Catalonia is the direct result of this. To stem the tide of incoming migrants we need to establish peace in the Middle East and it looks like Russia is the only country, that is trying to make this happen. I mean the Russian military operation in Syria,” he said.

“The problem is, however, that Western countries still can’t define whotheir main enemy in Syria actually is: Daeh or [Syrian President] Bashar Assad. We need to flush out the terrorists before we start thinking of how to deal with the other problems at hand,” Crespo pointed out.

He added that the impression was that certain forces are trying to prevent this from happening.

“The mainstream media’s furious response to contacts between the US and Russian presidents to this effect is ample proof of this. With the international situation being what it is, no international cooperation is impossible,” Rafael Gonzalez Crespo  concluded.

Armed police officers patrol a street in Las Ramblas, Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Aug. 18, 2017 - Sputnik International
EU Council Does Not Plan to Hold Emergency Meeting After Barcelona Attack
On Thursday, a van plowed into a crowd of pedestrians on Las Ramblas street in Barcelona, killing 14 people and injuring more than 100 others, in what police said was an act of terrorism.

Hours after the incident, another vehicle attack took place in the coastal town of Cambrils, south of Barcelona, killing one and injuring five civilians as well as a police officer.

The Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

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