Ten people, including three assailants have been during a terrorist attack on London Bridge bars on Saturday night.
Attackers killed after they drove a van at high speed into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people on the street and in nearby bars on Saturday night.
Armed police rushed to the scene and shot dead the three male attackers in the Borough Market area near the bridge as authorities urged Londoners on Twitter to "run, hide, tell" if they were caught up in the violence. There was no immediate claim of responsibility in the incident during which almost 40 people were injured.
Streets around London Bridge and Borough Market are packed with bars and restaurants and are normally busy with revelers on any given Saturday night.
The attacks on Britain’s capital come less than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a pop concert in Manchester in northern England. On 22 March 2017, another terrorist attack took place in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster in London, seat of the British Parliament. Six people were killed during the incident including 4 pedestrians run over by a car while one police officer was stabbed the perpetrator who was also shot.
"Sadly, six people have died in addition to the three attackers shot by police," Mark Rowley, Britain's top anti-terrorism officer, said. The three attackers had been wearing what looked like explosive vests that were later found to have been hoaxes.
Britain’s prime minister Theresa May has broken off from campaigning for Thursday’s general election, and will chair an emergency meeting of the government’s crisis committee, Cobra, on Sunday morning. London Mayor Sadiq Khan spoke of a "cowardly attack on innocent Londoners and visitors to our city enjoying their Saturday night".
Witnesses described a white van careering into pedestrians on London Bridge and knocking over several people.
Warning of ISIS-led attacks in Europe
Earlier, ISIS terrorist group has urged its supports in Europe to launch attacks against Christians in the holy month of Ramadan that is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting.
Referring to Christian civilians as “crusaders” the terrorist group told its supporters via its social media wing that killing these people will benefit them during the month of Ramadan. According to Islamic traditions doing good works in Ramadan are more valuable than other months.
The terrorist group encouraged its supporters to carry out attacks against Christian civilians using vehicles, guns, or knives.
British spy agencies have identified 23,000 extremists living in the country as potential terrorist attackers while recent media reports indicated that hundreds of ISIS terrorists are returning to the country from Syria. Security forces in Britain are apparently unable to control the returnees.
Britain’s opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has connected terrorist attacks at home with Britain’s failed wars abroad.
Addressing a recent press conference in London, Corbyn called for a change in how the UK operates in the world and handles domestic security.
He reiterated his longstanding view that engaging in wars like those in Iraq and Libya increase the threat of terrorist acts occurring at home.
Corbyn's offensive could prove decisive in the June 8 election, with the gap in the opinion polls between Labour and the ruling Conservatives continuing to narrow.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/6898
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