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A KNIFEMAN screaming "Allah is great" was gunned down as he stormed a Barcelona police station and tried to stab cops this morning.

The attacker, a 29-year-old Algerian who lived in the area, was shot in the stomach as he entered the station with a large knife in what police have described as a terror attack.

The attacker's body was stretchered out of the station after paramedics failed to revive him
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The attacker's body was stretchered out of the station after paramedics failed to revive himCredit: AFP or licensors

Emergency services scrambled to Mossos d'Esquadra police force in the northeastern region of Catalonia at around 6am.

The station tweeted: "A man armed with a knife has accessed the police station in Cornella this morning with the aim of attacking officers.

"He has been taken out."

Spanish media say he was shot in the abdomen and that paramedics failed to revive him at the scene.

Officers armed with automatic rifles were stationed at the site following the attack
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Officers armed with automatic rifles were stationed at the site following the attackCredit: AP:Associated Press
Local media says the incident is being treated as a terror attack
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Local media says the incident is being treated as a terror attackCredit: EPA

Pictures show the attacker's dead body being removed in a stretcher from the police station.

Spanish investigators later confirmed the incident is being regarded as an act of terrorism.

"Right now we are treating this as a terrorist attack," regional investigative police chief Rafel Comas told a news conference, adding that the attacker had said "Allah is great".

Local reporter Joan Guirado tweeted: "The National Court informs that the judge Ismael Moreno has just opened preliminary proceedings for the terrorist attack this morning in Cornella".

Drama unfolded at Mossos d'Esquadra police station in Cornel, Barcelona at around 6am this morning
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Drama unfolded at Mossos d'Esquadra police station in Cornel, Barcelona at around 6am this morningCredit: EPA
Police said the attacker yelled 'Allah is great' during the attack
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Police said the attacker yelled 'Allah is great' during the attackCredit: AFP or licensors

He added in a follow up tweet: "The counter-terrorism cabinet will mee at 17:30 this afternoon at the Les Corts police station."

The central government's Catalonia representative Tersa Cunillera called for "prudence" in assessing the attacker's motivation.

"Until there have been a minimum of checks, of looking into the whys, it is very difficult to draw any conclusion," she told public radio.

Officers searched the man's home, which was located just a few hundred yards from the station.

More to follow...

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