LONDON – Two assailants hacked to death a man reported to be a British soldier on a busy East London street Wednesday afternoon before delivering an apparent Islamic rant to bystanders, leading Prime Minister David Cameron to cut short a diplomatic trip in Paris to deal with what he described as a likely terrorist attack.
If confirmed as an act of terror, it would mark the first fatality from such an attack in Britain since 52 people were killed in a series of four coordinated suicide bombings targeting London’s transit system on July 7, 2005. Both suspects in Wednesday’s attack– who made no attempt to escape and shouted statements at bystanders while they waited for authorities to arrive— were wounded by police while being taken into custody and were being treated at local hospitals. At least one of the men was in serious condition.
Video
Two men attacked a possible soldier near a London military barracks Wednesday, in what British authorities were investigating as a possible terror act. One man is dead and two others were wounded.
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Britain immediately moved Wednesday night to increase security around military barracks, including at the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery near where the attack occurred in East London’s Woolwich neighborhood. Meantime, shocked Britons were gripped by snippets of a video filmed by a bystander and obtained by London’s ITV television that showed one of the alleged assailants – a black man holding two bloody blades and whose hands appear to be covered with blood — shouting in English.
“There are many, many ayah throughout the Koran,” the man says, referring to religious verses, “that says we must fight them as they fight us, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I apologize that women had to witness this today but in our land women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don’t care about you.”
According to the TV network, in a segment of the film not broadcast, the man also says “we swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.”
Various British media outlets reported the victim was a British soldier wearing the shirt of the Help for Heros charity that aids British servicemembers injured in combat. But neither Scotland Yard nor government officials were able to immediately confirm those reports.
Speaking in Paris, Prime Minister David Cameron said there were “strong indications that this is a terrorist incident.” He was poised to chair a meeting of Britain’s national security committee on Thursday morning.
“The killing in Woolwich is truly shocking,” Cameron said, later adding, “we've had these sorts of attacks before in our country and we will never buckle in the face of them.”
Metropolitan Police Commander Simon Letchford said the first reports of the incident emerged around 2:20 p.m. local time, when the department received reports of an incident in Woolwich where one man was being assaulted by two other men not far from an elementary school. He said a number of weapons were reported being used in the attack, including a firearm.
“Two men, who we believe from early reports to have been carrying weapons, were shot by police,” Letchford said. “They were taken to separate London hospitals. They are receiving treatment for their injuries.”
Eye-witness reports suggested the men had first hit the victim with a vehicle before attacking him with knives. Some reports indicated the attackers had yelled “God is Great” in Arabic before trying, but failing, to fully behead their victim.
Boya Dee, a local rapper who Tweeted about the incident as it happened, wrote “Ohhhhh myyyy God!!!! I just see a man with his head chopped off right in front of my eyes!”
Valentina Soria, a terrorism expert at IHS Jane’s Consulting, said the fact that British officials where holding a national security committee meeting so promptly after the attack suggested the assailants may not have been on the radar of British intelligence agencies.
“The government is treating this as a very serious incident,” Soria said. “At the end of the day it is the first successful terrorist attack on the U.K since the 7/7 bombings.
“The fact that it was carried out in the middle of the day in a public street is very concerning,” Soria continued. “There are indications that this was a terrorist attack of jihadist nature— whether it is home grown we can’t yet say. But, the fact that they wanted to be filmed indicates that they were seeking public attention. That is the aim in itself of the attack.”
Eliza Mackintosh contributed to this report.
If confirmed as an act of terror, it would mark the first fatality from such an attack in Britain since 52 people were killed in a series of four coordinated suicide bombings targeting London’s transit system on July 7, 2005. Both suspects in Wednesday’s attack– who made no attempt to escape and shouted statements at bystanders while they waited for authorities to arrive— were wounded by police while being taken into custody and were being treated at local hospitals. At least one of the men was in serious condition.
Video
Two men attacked a possible soldier near a London military barracks Wednesday, in what British authorities were investigating as a possible terror act. One man is dead and two others were wounded.
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Max Ehrenfreund The Iranian Guardian Council decided this week to disqualify two popular candidates.
Britain immediately moved Wednesday night to increase security around military barracks, including at the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery near where the attack occurred in East London’s Woolwich neighborhood. Meantime, shocked Britons were gripped by snippets of a video filmed by a bystander and obtained by London’s ITV television that showed one of the alleged assailants – a black man holding two bloody blades and whose hands appear to be covered with blood — shouting in English.
“There are many, many ayah throughout the Koran,” the man says, referring to religious verses, “that says we must fight them as they fight us, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I apologize that women had to witness this today but in our land women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don’t care about you.”
According to the TV network, in a segment of the film not broadcast, the man also says “we swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.”
Various British media outlets reported the victim was a British soldier wearing the shirt of the Help for Heros charity that aids British servicemembers injured in combat. But neither Scotland Yard nor government officials were able to immediately confirm those reports.
Speaking in Paris, Prime Minister David Cameron said there were “strong indications that this is a terrorist incident.” He was poised to chair a meeting of Britain’s national security committee on Thursday morning.
“The killing in Woolwich is truly shocking,” Cameron said, later adding, “we've had these sorts of attacks before in our country and we will never buckle in the face of them.”
Metropolitan Police Commander Simon Letchford said the first reports of the incident emerged around 2:20 p.m. local time, when the department received reports of an incident in Woolwich where one man was being assaulted by two other men not far from an elementary school. He said a number of weapons were reported being used in the attack, including a firearm.
“Two men, who we believe from early reports to have been carrying weapons, were shot by police,” Letchford said. “They were taken to separate London hospitals. They are receiving treatment for their injuries.”
Eye-witness reports suggested the men had first hit the victim with a vehicle before attacking him with knives. Some reports indicated the attackers had yelled “God is Great” in Arabic before trying, but failing, to fully behead their victim.
Boya Dee, a local rapper who Tweeted about the incident as it happened, wrote “Ohhhhh myyyy God!!!! I just see a man with his head chopped off right in front of my eyes!”
Valentina Soria, a terrorism expert at IHS Jane’s Consulting, said the fact that British officials where holding a national security committee meeting so promptly after the attack suggested the assailants may not have been on the radar of British intelligence agencies.
“The government is treating this as a very serious incident,” Soria said. “At the end of the day it is the first successful terrorist attack on the U.K since the 7/7 bombings.
“The fact that it was carried out in the middle of the day in a public street is very concerning,” Soria continued. “There are indications that this was a terrorist attack of jihadist nature— whether it is home grown we can’t yet say. But, the fact that they wanted to be filmed indicates that they were seeking public attention. That is the aim in itself of the attack.”
Eliza Mackintosh contributed to this report.