LONDON — A day after a two alleged Islamic extremists brutally killed a British soldier, Prime Minister David Cameron vowed that his nation would not succumb to fear, and promised a vigorous investigation into what appears to be this city’s first terrorist attack since the coordinated transit system bombings in 2005.
Amid reports that at least one of the alleged assailants had sought to travel to Somalia to support an al-Qaeda affiliate, Cameron said there would be reviews of British security services’ management of any information that had been received about either suspect in recent years. But he put the blame for the attack square on the “sickening individuals” who carried it out.
“The people who did this were trying to divide us,” Cameron said. “They should know that something like this will only bring us together and make us stronger. “
Startling amateur video of the assailants, bloodied and ranting, was circulated on the Internet after they allegedly struck their victim with a car and hacked him to death in the southeast London neighborhood of Woolwich.
Roughly 20 minutes after the attack, police intervened and shot the two men, who were being held at two separate London hospitals on Thursday.
The Times of London reported that the two attackers were British citizens of Nigerian background who had converted to a radical form of Islam. Britain’s Press Association said that while the men appeared to have links to Nigeria, they were not thought to have ties to terror groups based in that country.
British authorities, however, have yet to confirm the men’s identities or backgrounds. Counter intelligence forces are working to ferret out details of the assailants lives, backgrounds and potential motivations.
“The point that the two suspects in this horrific attack were known to the security services has been widely reported,” Cameron said. “You would not expect me to comment on this when a criminal investigation is ongoing.”
Authorities on Thursday confirmed the victim of the attack was an active-duty British soldier. They were withholding his name based on the wishes of his family. A post-mortem examination of the body was scheduled for later Thursday.
The BBC on Thursday identified one of the suspects as Michael Adebolajo, 28, and described him as having been raised in a devout Christian family but converting to Islam after leaving college in 2001.
Police early Thursday raided a home in Lincolnshire, about 150 miles north of London, in connection with Wednesday’s attack. The BBC also reported the police raid of a apartment in Greenwich, just south of London, at 5:30 a.m. local time. Two sisters in their 30s, an older woman and a teenaged boy were taken away by police, the broadcasting entity said.
Amid reports that at least one of the alleged assailants had sought to travel to Somalia to support an al-Qaeda affiliate, Cameron said there would be reviews of British security services’ management of any information that had been received about either suspect in recent years. But he put the blame for the attack square on the “sickening individuals” who carried it out.
“The people who did this were trying to divide us,” Cameron said. “They should know that something like this will only bring us together and make us stronger. “
Startling amateur video of the assailants, bloodied and ranting, was circulated on the Internet after they allegedly struck their victim with a car and hacked him to death in the southeast London neighborhood of Woolwich.
Roughly 20 minutes after the attack, police intervened and shot the two men, who were being held at two separate London hospitals on Thursday.
The Times of London reported that the two attackers were British citizens of Nigerian background who had converted to a radical form of Islam. Britain’s Press Association said that while the men appeared to have links to Nigeria, they were not thought to have ties to terror groups based in that country.
British authorities, however, have yet to confirm the men’s identities or backgrounds. Counter intelligence forces are working to ferret out details of the assailants lives, backgrounds and potential motivations.
“The point that the two suspects in this horrific attack were known to the security services has been widely reported,” Cameron said. “You would not expect me to comment on this when a criminal investigation is ongoing.”
Authorities on Thursday confirmed the victim of the attack was an active-duty British soldier. They were withholding his name based on the wishes of his family. A post-mortem examination of the body was scheduled for later Thursday.
The BBC on Thursday identified one of the suspects as Michael Adebolajo, 28, and described him as having been raised in a devout Christian family but converting to Islam after leaving college in 2001.
Police early Thursday raided a home in Lincolnshire, about 150 miles north of London, in connection with Wednesday’s attack. The BBC also reported the police raid of a apartment in Greenwich, just south of London, at 5:30 a.m. local time. Two sisters in their 30s, an older woman and a teenaged boy were taken away by police, the broadcasting entity said.