Barely three months after last attack, terror returns to London as trio stage Saturday night rampage in heart of city by mowing down pedestrians and stabbing revellers
Three attackers drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing revellers nearby on Saturday night, killing seven people in what Britain called the work of Islamist militants engaged in a new trend of terrorism.
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London Metropolitan Police said on Sunday 12 people had been arrested in the Barking district of east London in connection with the attack, which also injured at least 48 people, and raids were continuing there.
The attack occurred five days ahead of a parliamentary election and was the third to hit Britain in less than three months. Prime Minister Theresa May said the election would go ahead as planned on Thursday. "It is time to say enough is enough," she said outside her Downing Street office, where flags few at half-mast.
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 10 pm local time. The three attackers on Saturday night were wearing what looked like explosive vests that were later found to have been fake.
Among the people running from the site of the attack was a man with a beer in hand. Pics/AFP
"We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face as terrorism breeds terrorism," 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, without elaborating.
No change in Manchester concert
An all-star concert to raise funds for victims of the May 22 suicide bombing in Manchester will go ahead on Sunday as planned, but security will be raised after the attack, police said. The "One Love Manchester" concert will feature Ariana Grande and Coldplay, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, Take That and the Black Eyed Peas.
UK to go ahead with polls on June 8
Britain's national parliamentary election will go ahead on Thursday, said Prime Minister Theresa May. Several political parties, including May's Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party suspended campaigning on Sunday, but May said it would resume on Monday.
07 People who died in the attack
48 People injured in the attack
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