A police officer lays flowers on Whitehall
London: Eight people were arrested in raids across London and Birmingham yesterday after a terror attack on the UK Parliament in the heart of Westminster killed four people, including the ISIS attacker who was inspired by “Islamist ideology” and known to British secret services.
British police named the attacker as Khalid Masood (52), saying he had a string of criminal convictions, but none for terrorism-related offences.
A photograph of police officer Keith Palmer who was killed in the March 22 terror attack in Westminster. Pics/AFP
“What I can confirm is that the man was British born and that some years ago he was once investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism. He was a peripheral figure,” Prime Minister Theresa May earlier told the packed House of Commons yesterday.
Three people were killed and 40 injured when the attacker mowed down pedestrians on a bridge and stabbed to death a police officer outside parliament complex before being shot dead by Scotland Yard officers on Wednesday.
“It is still believed that this attacker acted alone, and the police have no reason to believe there are imminent further attacks on the public. His identity is known to the police and MI5, and when operational considerations allow, he will be publicly identified. Our working assumption is that the attacker was inspired by Islamist ideology,” May said.
Meanwhile, the ISIS on its propaganda news agency ‘Amaq’ claimed responsibility, saying a “Soldier of the Caliphate” carried out the attack on the British Parliament. “The operation was carried out in response to calls to target coalition countries,” it said in a statement. The Prime Minister confirmed that eight people have been arrested during raids across London and Birmingham following the attack . May said the threat level to the UK has been set at ‘severe’.
In her message to the police, British Queen Elizabeth II condoled the attack, saying, “My thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathy are with all those who have been affected by yesterday’s awful violence.”
How the attack unfolded
>> A single attacker drove his vehicle at speed into innocent pedestrians who were crossing Westminster Bridge, killing two people and injuring around 40 more.
>> He then left the vehicle and approached a police officer at Carriage Gates of Parliament, attacking him with a large knife, before he was shot dead by an officer.
>> In addition to 12 Britons admitted to hospital, the injured include three French children, two Romanians, four South Koreans, one German, one Pole, one Irish, one Chinese, one Italian, one American and two Greeks.
Marine Le Pen asks for border control
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Thursday said the lone-wolf attack outside parliament in London underscored the need for tighter border controls, as France shuddered at an incident that reopened wounds inflicted by similar assaults at home. Three French schoolchildren were among those hurt by the London attacker. Le Pen advocated closing down mosques with links to extremism and revoking the French nationality of those with more than one passport who were guilty of committing attacks.
Attack won’t delay start of Brexit talks
Britain’s plan to begin the formal process of leaving the European Union on March 29 will not be delayed by Wednesday’s attack. Asked by a reporter if the triggering of Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty might potentially be delayed by the attack, May’s spokesman said: “What the prime minister was equally clear on was that Westminster is getting back to business today, the country will do so and there is no intention to delay.”
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