Britain names IS soldier who attacked parliament
AFP
British police yesterday identified the man who killed three people in a rampage outside parliament as a 52-year-old with a string of convictions but none for terror offences, reports AFP. The Islamic State group claimed the assailant behind the deadliest attack on British soil in 12 years was one of its soldiers acting on a call to target countries in the US-led coalition fighting the jihadists. Meanwhile, the eight people arrested following theattack outside the British parliament are being investigated on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts, police said yesterday.
Police named the attacker as English-born Khalid Masood and said he had convictions for assault including grievous bodily harm, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences ranging from 1983 to 2003. However, authorities said Masood had never been convicted of any terrorism offences. (He) was not the subject of any investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack.
Some media said Masood, reportedly a married father-of-three, was believed to have worked as an English teacher and had given that as his occupation when he rented the car in a town outside Birmingham used in Wednesdays bloody rampage. Hundreds of extra police were on patrol in London as officers worked around the clock to piece together what happened in the deadliest attack in Britain since four suicide bombers killed 52 people on the citys transport system in July 2005. The IS group said it was responsible, according to the Amaq propaganda agency, its first claim of an attack on British soil.
The perpetrator of yesterdays attack in front of the British parliament was a soldier of the Islamic State and the operation was carried out in response to calls to target coalition countries, Amaq said.
The latest attack had echoes of the atrocities in Nice and Berlin when trucks ploughed into crowds of people, killing 86 people in the French Riviera city in July and 12 at a market in the German capital just days before Christmas.
As the British flag flew at half-mast, lawmakers returned to business as usual in the surreal silence of an area in the heart of London normally thronged with tourists.
As dusk fell, a vigil was taking place in Trafalgar square in central London. The UN Security Council also observed a minute of silence, as Britains allies vowed to stand by London in the fight against terrorism.
In his broad daylight attack, Masood mowed down pedestrians with a car along Westminster Bridge -- a busy traffic route and popular tourist spot with views of parliament and the Big Ben clock tower.
He then rammed the railings outside parliament and jumped out of the car, fatally stabbing 48-year-old unarmed police officer Keith Palmer before being shot dead.
They also said that five people remained in critical condition and two more had life-threatening injuries after the attacker ploughed into pedestrians on Wednesday before stabbing a policeman and being shot dead.
Police named the attacker as 52-year-old Khalid Masood, who had a string of convictions but none of them terror-related.
The eight arrested included two women and five men arrested at three addresses in the central city of Birmingham and a woman arrested in London.
The police statement said that there had also been a raid in Wales in which no arrests were made.
Detectives are continuing to search the sites that were raided, the police said. It said the seven arrested in Birmingham were being held under the Terrorism Act, which allows for longer detention times before charging.
