Sickening celebrations online

BRITISH intelligence agencies are investigating whether terrorist group Islamic State inspired, or was directly involved in, yesterday’s murderous rampage at Westminster.

Social media accounts supporting the death cult were — sickeningly — celebrating the atrocity, but the official Islamic State news channel had not issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack.

If it does turn out to be an Islamic State-backed attack, it would be the first IS-linked deaths on English soil. It is the first mass-casualty attack in the UK since the July 7 attacks in 2005, when 52 people were killed and more than 700 injured when four Islamists bombed three underground trains and a double-decker bus in central London.

Authorities have become increasingly concerned that the allies’ success in destroying Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has pushed and radical Islamists into Europe.

British police had last night released no details about the Westminster attacker, but several people were arrested during raids on homes in the city of Birmingham.

The terrorist, who was shot dead after stabbing a police officer to death and rushing at the entrance to the Parliament Buildings, was described as being in his 40s and of Asian appearance.

Police know his identity and had been watching him.

Initial reports yesterday suggested he was a “lone wolf” attacker, but he was thought to have been influenced by international terrorism.

“Islamist-related terrorism is our assumption,” Scotland Yard’s senior anti-terrorism officer, Deputy Commissioner Mark Rowley, said.

The low-tech method used to commit his evil crime — knives and a car — has become increasingly popular with terrorists.

In December, an IslamicState attacker hijacked a truck, killed the driver and drove through a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. In July, another IS-linked terrorist drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, killing 86 people.