ISIS fanatic who planned to bomb Barcelona-Madrid match is jailed for three years

An ISIS fanatic who planned to bomb a Barcelona-Madrid football match with an explosive-packed drone to atone for drinking alcohol in the past has today been sentenced to three years in prison by a Spanish court.

Mohammed Yassi Amrani, a former bar worker, became a member of ISIS during a ‘fast process’ of radicalisation in 2020.

Amrani was instructed by an ISIS recruiter to fly a drone packed with explosives over Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium, which can seat 99,354 fans, during a match between Barcelona and Real Madrid and then blow it up.

Amrani agreed to carry out the attack and today Spain‘s National Court, which deals with terrorism cases, sentenced him to three years in jail for planning an attack ‘following an agreement from all sides,’ a court spokesman said. 

Amrani was first contacted by the ISIS recruiter on Telegram after he had posted on Facebook in March 2020 calling for ‘jihad’.

Amrani was instructed by an ISIS recruiter to fly a drone packed with explosives over Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium (file image), which can seat 99,354 fans, during a match between Barcelona and Real Madrid and then blow it up

The ISIS contact ordered Amrani to carry about the terrorist attack to ‘purify his life and assure a place in paradise’ and make up for having drunk alcohol in the past and shunning religion.

No date for the planned attack on the stadium was given. Matches between Spain’s two powerhouse teams – dubbed ‘El Clasico’ – are among the most watched matches in the world and nearly 100,000 fans usually fill the stadium. 

At the time that Amrani was contacted by ISIS, Spain was under a severe Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and matches were suspended.

Police arrested Amrani in May 2020 and searched his home. He reportedly lived in Barcelona at the time.

The Civil Guard found jihadist material in Amrani’s home including ‘a multitude of videos, tutorials or manuals for the preparation of explosive substances or the making of explosive devices’.

Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium was on a list of potential targets drawn up by the jihadist cell behind the twin vehicle attacks in August 2017 which killed 16 people in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils further south.

Also on the list of targets was Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Familia church and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.