Plot to blow up court could have killed 1,000 people

THIRTY men have gone on trial for allegedly plotting to blow up a court that is the hub of Spain’s anti-terror investigations.

Alleged mastermind Abderrahmane Tahiri is accused of plotting to ram a truck loaded with 500kg of explosives into the National Court in downtown Madrid — an attack that investigative Judge Fernando Grande-Marlaska said could have killed up to 1,000 people.

The indictment called Tahiri the leader of an “organised and structured terrorist group” committed to waging violent Islamic jihad, or holy war, on Spanish targets.