[h=3]By CASSELL BRYAN-LOW[/h]
One person has died and at least two people were wounded in a violent attack near a military training barracks in London, as Prime Minister David Cameron called an emergency meeting in response. Cassell Bryan-Low reports.
LONDON—A man was violently attacked and killed outside an army barracks in southeast London on Wednesday, the police said, prompting officers to shoot two suspects in an incident authorities said they believed to be terrorist related.
In an indication of how seriously the government was treating the attack, Britain's top security and government officials met Wednesday evening to discuss the situation. The government also said security at all London barracks had been increased.
"There are strong indications this is a terrorist incident," said British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was on a trip to Paris.
Police are investigating the gruesome killing of a soldier outside a military training facility in London. UK Prime Minister David Cameron called the attack “appalling” and said it appears to be a terrorist incident.
The dead man was believed to be a soldier, a local member of Parliament told the British Broadcasting Corp. The government didn't immediately confirm the man's identity.
Police said they responded Wednesday afternoon to reports of an incident close to the Woolwich army barracks involving a man being assaulted by two other men wielding a number of weapons including firearms. Police arrived at the scene to find the victim, who was later pronounced dead.
The two men believed to be the attackers were shot by police and arrested. The two were taken to separate hospitals for treatment for injuries, according to police, who said they continued to investigate.
The man was being attacked with a machete-style knife, according to witness accounts cited widely in British media. Reports said witnesses heard cries of Allahu Akbar—God is Great—from men alleged to have carried out the attack.
A video clip released by British media groups ITV PLC and the Sun newspaper showed a man who appeared to have bloodstained hands and to be carrying two large bloodied knives talking to people in the street. Speaking in the direction of the camera in a British accent, the man apologized for what people had witnessed but that women in "our lands" have to witness the same. "Remove your government, they don't care about you," he said. "Tell them to bring our troops back so…we you can all live in peace," he said, before walking toward a body lying in the street.
A spokesman for ITV said the footage had been recorded by a passerby and that the news organization had verified it with other people at the scene. A spokeswoman for The Sun, which is owned by News Corp ., the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said the media outlet had purchased it from an witness. The Sun spokeswoman said she thought the newspaper's clip, which is similar to ITV's but seems to be taken from a slightly different angle, was from a different video recording.
Authorities declined to comment on the video.immediatelyreached for comment.
Mr. Cameron described the incident as a "sickening attack " and said he planned to return to London on Thursday evening from a visit to Paris, where he was meeting with French President François Hollande. Mr. Cameron had been scheduled to return to London on Friday.
Home Secretary Theresa May chaired the nearly hourlong meeting of top security and government officials, known as COBRA. In a statement, she said the victim was "brutally murdered" and described it as "a sickening and barbaric attack."
The U.K. has been the scene of a number of terrorist attacks, ranging from the coordinated suicide bomb attacks in London in 2005 that killed 56 people and injured more than 700 to so-called lone-wolf style attacks. In 2010, a 21-year old woman attempted to murder a top politician in a knife attack after being influenced by a U.S.-born radical cleric connected to a Yemen-based affiliate of al Qaeda.
Corrections & Amplifications
The president of France is François Hollande. An earlier version of this article misspelled his first name.
Write to Cassell Bryan-Low at [email protected]
One person has died and at least two people were wounded in a violent attack near a military training barracks in London, as Prime Minister David Cameron called an emergency meeting in response. Cassell Bryan-Low reports.
LONDON—A man was violently attacked and killed outside an army barracks in southeast London on Wednesday, the police said, prompting officers to shoot two suspects in an incident authorities said they believed to be terrorist related.
In an indication of how seriously the government was treating the attack, Britain's top security and government officials met Wednesday evening to discuss the situation. The government also said security at all London barracks had been increased.
"There are strong indications this is a terrorist incident," said British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was on a trip to Paris.
Police are investigating the gruesome killing of a soldier outside a military training facility in London. UK Prime Minister David Cameron called the attack “appalling” and said it appears to be a terrorist incident.
The dead man was believed to be a soldier, a local member of Parliament told the British Broadcasting Corp. The government didn't immediately confirm the man's identity.
Police said they responded Wednesday afternoon to reports of an incident close to the Woolwich army barracks involving a man being assaulted by two other men wielding a number of weapons including firearms. Police arrived at the scene to find the victim, who was later pronounced dead.
The two men believed to be the attackers were shot by police and arrested. The two were taken to separate hospitals for treatment for injuries, according to police, who said they continued to investigate.
The man was being attacked with a machete-style knife, according to witness accounts cited widely in British media. Reports said witnesses heard cries of Allahu Akbar—God is Great—from men alleged to have carried out the attack.
A video clip released by British media groups ITV PLC and the Sun newspaper showed a man who appeared to have bloodstained hands and to be carrying two large bloodied knives talking to people in the street. Speaking in the direction of the camera in a British accent, the man apologized for what people had witnessed but that women in "our lands" have to witness the same. "Remove your government, they don't care about you," he said. "Tell them to bring our troops back so…we you can all live in peace," he said, before walking toward a body lying in the street.
A spokesman for ITV said the footage had been recorded by a passerby and that the news organization had verified it with other people at the scene. A spokeswoman for The Sun, which is owned by News Corp ., the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, said the media outlet had purchased it from an witness. The Sun spokeswoman said she thought the newspaper's clip, which is similar to ITV's but seems to be taken from a slightly different angle, was from a different video recording.
Authorities declined to comment on the video.immediatelyreached for comment.
Mr. Cameron described the incident as a "sickening attack " and said he planned to return to London on Thursday evening from a visit to Paris, where he was meeting with French President François Hollande. Mr. Cameron had been scheduled to return to London on Friday.
Home Secretary Theresa May chaired the nearly hourlong meeting of top security and government officials, known as COBRA. In a statement, she said the victim was "brutally murdered" and described it as "a sickening and barbaric attack."
The U.K. has been the scene of a number of terrorist attacks, ranging from the coordinated suicide bomb attacks in London in 2005 that killed 56 people and injured more than 700 to so-called lone-wolf style attacks. In 2010, a 21-year old woman attempted to murder a top politician in a knife attack after being influenced by a U.S.-born radical cleric connected to a Yemen-based affiliate of al Qaeda.
Corrections & Amplifications
The president of France is François Hollande. An earlier version of this article misspelled his first name.
Write to Cassell Bryan-Low at [email protected]