May talks tough over terror attack
12 suspects arrested as police raids continue in London
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday called for a stronger response to Islamist extremism after three attackers drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed others nearby, killing seven people and injuring 48.
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.
The attack occurred five days before a parliamentary election and was the third to hit Britain in less than three months. May said the vote would go ahead as planned on Thursday.
“It is time to say enough is enough,” the Conservative leader said outside her Downing Street office.
“We cannot and must not pretend things can continue as they are,” May said, calling for a beefed-up counter-terrorism strategy that could include longer jail sentences and new cyberspace regulations.
Less than two weeks ago, a suicide bomber killed 22 children and adults at a concert by US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester. In March, in an 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, 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 10pm.
Eyewitnesses described harrowing scenes as the attackers’ white van hit people on the bridge sidewalk before the attackers ran into an area packed with bars and restaurants, stabbing people indiscriminately.
Accounts emerged of people barricading themselves in a pub while others threw tables and objects to fend off the attackers.
At a block of flats in Barking, a resident told Sky News he heard controlled explosions early on Sunday morning as 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 attack.
Islamic State losing territory in Syria and Iraq 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 Ramadaan.