London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Four blasts devastated the city of London during the morning rush hour on Thursday killing at least 40 people and injuring over 300, according to a U.S. law enforcement official. Asharq Al-Awsat spoke with witnesses of the bombing near Russell Square where a double-decker bus was ripped apart.

Dilshad Ahmed a 43-year-old Turkish immigrant was forced to walk to work after all of London ”s underground transport system was suspended. Dilshed witnessed first hand the explosion near the busy Central London station in Russell Square , a daily mandatory stop for students and office workers.

&#34I saw a London double-decker bus explode in front of me. The roof looked like a tin can that was torn open. There were a number of dead bodies everywhere, and the street was very bloody, I”ve never seen anything like this in my life. It was chaos&#34, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

According to James Edwards a 45-year-old carpenter who was having breakfast at the Ambassador hotel a few yards away from the scene of the blast, &#34The sound was earth-shattering, glass broke around us and people were screaming everywhere&#34.

He added, &#34It took police around ten minutes to get there and they started evacuating the area, because there were reports that there were some suspicious packages found&#34. &#34Ambulances arrived shortly after; medical staff then covered the bodies with blankets and tended to the wounded&#34. British police later cordoned off the area.

A group calling itself &#34The Secret Organization of al-Qaeda in Europe &#34 claimed responsibility for the blasts, stating they were in retaliation for Britain ”s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan . The internet statement, reproduced on the website of the German magazine Der Spiegel, reads as follows:

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, may peace be upon the cheerful one and undaunted fighter, Prophet Muhammad, God”s peace be upon him.

Nation of Islam and Arab nation: Rejoice for it is time to take revenge against the British Zionist Crusader government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is committing in Iraq and Afghanistan . The heroic mujahideen have carried out a blessed raid in London . Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in its northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters.

We have repeatedly warned the British Government and people. We have fulfilled our promise and carried out our blessed military raid in Britain after our mujahideen exerted strenuous efforts over a long period of time to ensure the success of the raid.

We continue to warn the governments of Denmark and Italy and all the Crusader governments that they will be punished in the same way if they do not withdraw their troops from Iraq and Afghanistan . He who warns is excused. God says: &#34You who believe: If ye will aid (the cause of) Allah, He will aid you, and plant your feet firmly.&#34

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, speaking at the G8 summit in Gleneagles in Scotland , condemned the attacks calling them &#34barbaric&#34.

&#34It is particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa , the long-term problems of climate change and the environment,&#34 he said in a televised statement before returning to the capital.

&#34Whatever they do, it is our determination that they will never succeed in destroying what we hold dear in this country,&#34 he told reporters, referring to those behind the attacks.

The explosions came the day after London won the right to stage the 2012 Olympic Games, a victory widely seen as one of the high points of Blair”s premiership.

London has long been identified as a prime target for Islamic militants, partly because of Blair”s staunch support for US President Bush and the Iraq war.