UPDATE Spain terror attack suspects appear in court

ISTANBUL (AA) - Four men being linked to a string of deadly terrorist attacks in Spain appeared in a high court in Madrid on Tuesday.

The four -- Mohamed Houli Chemlal; Driss Oukabir, 28; Mohammed Aalla, 27; and Sahal al-Karib, 34 -- were transfered amid tight security from Catalonia to the Spanish capital.

They appeared before investigating judge Fernando Andreu over last week's attacks which left 15 people dead and over 100 injured.

Local media reported late on Tuesday that the judge ordered two of the suspects -- Mohamed Houli Chemlal and Driss Oukabir -- to be remanded without bail on charges of belonging to a terrorist group and murder.

Sahal al-Karib will remain in custody for further questioning while Mohammed Aalla is to be released.

The suspects were arrested on suspicion of being part of a 12-strong terrorist group responsible for Thursday's vehicle attack on Las Ramblas in central Barcelona and another incident later in the Catalan town of Cambrils.

Two of the group are reported to have died in a house explosion, thought to have been caused by gas canisters they were planning to use as bombs.

Six more were shot when confronted by police, including 22-year-old Moroccan-born Younes Abouyaaqoub, the man believed to have been behind the wheel of the white van which ploughed into crowds of tourists and locals in Barcelona.