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Britain’s May Speaks of ‘New Terrorism Trend’ after London Attack Kills 7 | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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British PM Theresa May. (AFP)


Three attackers drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing revelers nearby on Saturday night, killing at least seven people as Prime Minister Theresa May called for a revision of the country’s counterterrorism strategy.

“We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face as terrorism breeds terrorism,” she said in a televised statement on Sunday in front of her Downing Street office, where flags flew at half-mast.

“Perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots … and not even as lone attackers radicalized online, but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack.”

She said that Britain’s counter-terrorism strategy needed to be reviewed, adding: “It is time to say enough is enough.”

At least 48 people were injured in the attack, the third to hit Britain in less than three months and occurring days ahead of a snap parliamentary election on Thursday.

Police shot dead the three male assailants in the Borough Market area near the bridge within eight minutes of receiving the first emergency call shortly after 10 p.m. local time.

Most of the main political parties suspended national campaigning on Sunday, but May said campaigning would resume on Monday and that the election would go ahead as planned.

London Bridge is a major transport hub and nearby Borough Market is a fashionable warren of alleyways packed with bars and restaurants that is always bustling on a Saturday night.

The area remained cordoned off and patrolled by armed police and counter-terrorism officers on Sunday, with train stations closed. Forensic investigators could be seen working on the bridge, where buses and taxis stood abandoned.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack to hit Britain and Europe.

The three attackers on Saturday night were wearing what looked like explosive vests that were later found to have been fake. May said the assailants’ aim had been to sow panic. The BBC showed a photograph of two possible attackers shot by police, one of whom had canisters strapped to his body.

The London Ambulance Service said 48 people had been taken to five hospitals across the capital and a number of others had been treated at the scene for minor injuries.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said some of those who had been injured were in a critical condition. He said the official threat level in Britain remained at severe, meaning a militant attack is highly likely. It had been raised to critical after the Manchester attack, then lowered again days later.

“One of the things we can do is show that we aren’t going to be cowed is by voting on Thursday and making sure that we understand the importance of our democracy, our civil liberties and our human rights,” Khan said.

US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to offer help to Britain while Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences in a telegram to May.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced her sympathy.

“Today, we are united across all borders in horror and sadness, but equally in determination. I stress for Germany: in the fight against all forms of terrorism, we stand firmly and decisively at the side of Great Britain,” she said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter that “France is standing more than ever side by side with the UK”.

Four French nationals were among those injured in the London attack, French officials said. Australia said two of its citizens were caught up in it and one of them was in hospital.

The Manchester bombing on May 22 was the deadliest attack in Britain since July 2005, when four British suicide bombers killed 52 people in coordinated assaults on London’s transport network.

Less than two weeks ago, a suicide bomber killed 22 people including children at a concert by US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England. In March, in a attack similar to Saturday’s, a man killed five people after driving into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in central London.