May vows to fight terror
Man dies, 10 injured in van attack near London mosque
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May vowed yesterday to fight terrorism in all its forms after a white driver ploughed his van into a crowd of Muslims in a suspected Islamophobic attack.
It was the fourth terror strike in a tumultuous four months in Britain.
Ten people were injured -- two of them seriously -- in the incident which took place early yesterday morning, after evening prayers in a mosque in Finsbury Park in north London.
One man, who was already receiving first aid at the time of the attack, also died at the scene.
“Inquiries are continuing to establish whether there is any link between his death and the attack,” police said.
May condemned the assault as sickening, saying Britain’s determination to fight “terrorism, extremism and hatred . . . must be the same, whoever is responsible”.
The 47-year-old van driver was detained by people at the scene before he was arrested for attempted murder and terrorism.
Officers close by attended the scene instantly, the attack was declared a terrorist incident within eight minutes and armed officers were on the scene within 10 minutes, police said.
“At this stage in the investigation, it is believed that the suspect acted alone but we are of course investigating all the circumstances leading up to the attack,” police said.
Searches were being carried out at a residential address in the Cardiff area in Wales.
Many observers linked the attack to an increase in anti-Muslim sentiment, particularly since a van and knife rampage in the capital on June 3, that left eight people dead, which was claimed by the Islamic State.
Last month, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a pop concert in Britain’s third city of Manchester, killing 22 people, many of them children.
London police chief Cressida Dick said yesterday’s incident was clearly an attack on Muslims and promised a stepped-up police presence near mosques as the holy month of Ramadan draws to a close.
A witness to yesterday’s attack, Abdiqadir Warra, said the van drove at people and that some of the victims were carried for several metres along the road.
Another witness, Khalid Amin, told BBC television: “He was shouting: ‘All Muslims, I want to kill all Muslims’.” France and Germany quickly condemned the attack and Egypt’s Al-Azhar institution, the leading authority in Sunni Islam, condemned it as sinful and urged Western countries to take steps against Islamophobia.
US President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, expressed solidarity with the worshippers in a tweet, but her father has so far remained silent.
May, who was heavily criticised for failing to meet survivors of a devastating fire in a London tower block last week, visited Finsbury Park Mosque where she met faith leaders.
Meanwhile in Paris yesterday, a car loaded with gas canisters rammed into a police van on the Champs-Elysees avenue, leaving the driver dead in what Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said was an attempted attack on security forces.
Police sources said a Kalashnikov rifle, handguns and gas bottles were found in the white Renault Megane.
Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said bomb disposal experts were on the scene to ensure the vehicle posed no further danger.
No police or bystanders were injured in the incident near the Grand Palais exhibition hall. “People were running every which way,” a 51-year-old bystander, who gave his name only as Alexandre, said.
“Some shouted at me to get away.”
Anti-terrorism prosecutors have opened an investigation.
Police have closed two Metro stations on the Champs-Elysees.
The incident came just two months after a policeman was shot and killed on the avenue by a gunman linked with the Islamic State.
On June 7, a hammer-wielding Algerian man was shot and wounded by police after he struck an officer on the head in front of Notre Dame cathedral, shouting it was in revenge for Syria.