‘Low-tech’ terror threat in spotlight as Daesh claims London attack
LONDON: Experts have warned of the threat posed by “low-tech” terror attacks, following Wednesday’s deadly rampage outside the UK Parliament and questions over another incident in Antwerp.
The London attacker — who mowed down two civilians with his car and stabbed a policeman before being shot dead — was on Thursday named as British-born Khalid Masood.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement issued by its Amaq news agency, but did not name Masood and gave no details.
“Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack,” London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
“However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH (grievous bodily harm), possession of offensive weapons and public order offenses.”
Prime Minister Theresa May told Parliament the attacker had once been investigated by the MI5 intelligence agency over concerns about violent extremism, but was a peripheral figure. About 40 people were injured in the attack, of whom 29 remain in hospital, seven in critical condition.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the fact that victims from the London attack came from 11 countries shows that “an attack on London is an attack on the world.”
Police arrested eight people at six locations in London and Birmingham in the investigation into the attack.
The bloodshed in London took place on the first anniversary of attacks that killed 32 people in Brussels, and resembled Daeshinspired attacks in France and Germany where vehicles were driven into crowds.
Many have been shocked that the attacker was able to cause such mayhem in the heart of the UK capital equipped with nothing more than a hired car and a knife.
“This kind of attack, this lone- wolf attack, using things from daily life, a vehicle, a knife, are much more difficult to forestall,” Defense Minister Michael Fallon told the BBC.