7 die as terror strikes London again
All 3 knife-wielding attackers killed 12 arrested May vows June 8 polls on schedule
British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Sunday for a stronger response to Islamist extremism after three attackers drove a hired van into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed others nearby, killing seven people and injuring at least 48 others.
The attack occurred five days before a general election and was the third to hit Britain in less than three months. Ms May said the vote would go ahead as planned on Thursday.
“It is time to say enough is enough,” the Conservative leader said in a televised statement outside her 10 Downing Street office, where flags flew at half-mast.
“We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are,” Ms May said, calling for a beefed-up counter-terrorism strategy that could include longer jail sentences for some offences and new cyberspace regulations.
A Canadian national was among those killed, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said in a statement. None of the dead were identified by name. The French and Australian authorities said nationals from their countries were among those injured.
London’s Metropolitan Police arrested 12 people in the Barking district of East London in connection with the attack and raids were continuing there, the force said. A
It is time to say enough is enough... We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are
— Theresa May British PM
Reuters photographer saw another raid take place in nearby East Ham.
Less than two weeks ago, a suicide bomber had killed 22
children and adults at a concert by American singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England. In March, in a attack similar to Saturday’s, five people died after a man drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in central London and stabbed a policeman.
On Saturday night, the police shot dead the three male assailants in the Borough Market area near London Bridge within eight minutes of receiving the first emergency call shortly after 10 pm local time (2.30 am Sunday IST). Mark Rowley, head of counterterrorism police, said eight officers had fired about 50 bullets to stop the attackers, who appeared to be suicide bombers because they were wearing what turned out to be fake suicide vests.
“The situation these officers were confronted with was critical — ‘a matter of life and death’ — three armed men, wearing what appeared to be suicide belts, had already attacked and killed members of the public and had to be stopped immediately,” Mr Rowley said.
Eyewitnesses described harrowing scenes as the attackers’ white van veered on and off the pavement of the bridge, hitting people along the way, and the three men then ran into an area packed with bars and
restaurants, stabbing people indiscriminately.
Accounts emerged of people trying to barricade themselves in a pub while others tried throwing tables and other objects to fend off the attackers.
England’s health
Attacks in London are shocking and anguishing. We condemn them. My thoughts are with families of the deceased & prayers with the injured
— Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
authority said on Sunday afternoon that 36 of those injured remained in hospital, of whom 21 were in a critical condition.
Ms May made a private visit to the staff and patients at King’s College Hospital, where some of the injured were being treated, a spokeswoman said.
The government announced that a nationwide minute of silence would be held at 10 am GMT on Tuesday to pay respect to the victims of the attack and flags would remain at half-mast on government buildings until Tuesday evening.
At an apartment block in Barking, a resident told Sky News he heard controlled explosions early on Sunday morning as the police gained access to the building. A Reuters photographer later saw four women being removed from the building, shielding their faces as they stepped into police vans.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the London Bridge attack.
Islamic State, losing territory in Syria and Iraq to an advance backed by a US-led coalition, had sent out a call on instant messaging service Telegram early on Saturday urging its followers to carry out attacks with trucks, knives and guns against “Crusaders” during the Muslim holy month of Ramzan.
“We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face as terrorism breeds terrorism,” Ms May said. “Perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots... and not even as lone attackers radicalised online, but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack.”
She said the series of attacks were not connected in terms of planning and execution, but were inspired by what she called a “single, evil ideology of Islamist extremism” that represented a perversion of Islam and of the truth. She said this ideology had to be confronted both abroad and at home.
“While we have made significant progress in recent years, there is — to be frank — far too much tolerance of extremism in our country,” she said, urging Britons to be more robust in stamping it out in the public sector and in the wider society.
US President Donald Trump, taking to Twitter Sunday, urged the world to stop being “politically correct” in order to ensure public security against terrorism.
Most of the main British political parties suspended their election campaigning on Sunday, but Ms May said this would resume on Monday. The anti-European Union UK Independence Party said it would not suspend its campaign because disrupting democracy was what the extremists wanted.
London Bridge is a major transport hub and the nearby Borough Market is a fashionable warren of alleyways leavened with bars and restaurants that is always bustling on a Saturday night.
The area remained cordoned off and patrolled by armed police and counterterrorism officers on Sunday, with train stations closed. Forensic investigators could be seen working on the bridge, where buses and taxis stood abandoned.
At several points outside the cordon, people laid flowers and messages of grief and solidarity.
Ariana Grande and other music stars were due to give a benefit concert at Manchester’s Old Trafford cricket ground on Sunday evening to raise funds for victims of the concert bombing and their families. The police said the event would go ahead as planned though security would be increased.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said the official threat level in Britain remained at severe, meaning a militant attack is highly likely. It had been raised to critical after the Manchester attack, then lowered again days later.
“One of the things we can do is show that we aren’t going to be cowed is by voting on Thursday and making sure that we understand the importance of our democracy, our civil liberties and our human rights,” Mr Khan said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin were among those who sent messages of condolence and made statements of solidarity.
The Manchester bombing on May 22 was the deadliest attack in Britain since July 2005, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people in coordinated assaults on London’s transport network.