Crash in London called possible terror attack
2 pedestrians injured near British Parliament
LONDON — A man crashed a car into security barriers outside the Houses of Parliament in London, injuring two pedestrians Tuesday in an incident British police are investigating as a terror attack.
It was the fourth vehicle-based terror attack in London in less than 18 months.
The driver of the car — in his late 20s — was arrested at the scene on suspicion of terrorism offenses. Few other details about him, his identity or a possible motive were released. No one else was in the car and no weapons were found.
The incident at 7:37 a.m. local time led to a large police operation and occurred close to the site of another terrorist attack last year. None of the pedestrians’ injuries are life-threatening.
Police said the suspect was not cooperating with investigators. London Assistant Police Commissioner Neil Basu said the crash appeared to be a “deliberate act,” that no other suspects have been identified and that there is no “intelligence” of further danger to London.
British Prime Minister Theresa May nevertheless convened a meeting of the government’s COBRA emergency committee to discuss the incident.
The Houses of Parliament are ringed by steel and concrete security barriers.
An unidentified eyewitness told the BBC the driver “drove at speed” toward the barriers and that his actions looked intentional. The eyewitness said the car appeared to swerve into a pedestrian crossing before slamming into the barriers.
Britain’s capital has been subject to a series of terrorist attacks in recent years.
In June 2017, seven people were killed and dozens injured when three men — eventually shot and killed by police — rammed pedestrians with a car at London Bridge and then went on a stabbing rampage at nearby Borough Mar- ket. The Islamic State militant group later claimed responsibility.
Also in June last year, a British man drove a van into Muslim worshippers near Finsbury Park Mosque, in north London. A man who earlier collapsed near the scene died. Investigators concluded the attacker, who was jailed for murder, developed an extreme hatred of Muslims.
Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds injured during a bombing attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester in northwest- ern England in May 2017. The Islamic State group claimed the 22-year-old British perpetrator of Libyan descent as one of its own.
The area where Tuesday’s assault occurred was the site of a terror attack in March 2017, when three people — a police officer and two civilians — were killed and dozens wounded by a lone attacker near Britain’s Parliament. Khalid Masood was shot and killed by police after he slammed a car into crowds on Westminster Bridge and then stabbed and killed the police officer and two tourists before being shot dead in a courtyard outside Parliament. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.
President Donald Trump often weighs in on British terror attacks. On Tuesday, he tweeted: “Another terrorist attack in London... These animals are crazy and must be dealt with through toughness and strength!”