London police: Eight arrests over Westminster attack

London police: Eight arrests over Westminster attack

Police identify British man as assailant and arrest eight in probe into deadly attack near UK parliament.


The suspect of a deadly attack outside the UK parliament in London was British, Prime Minister Theresa May said, as police arrested eight people after several overnight raids across the country.
Police named the man as Khalid Masood on Thursday, saying he had a string of criminal convictions.
Masood, 52, was born in Kent to the southeast of London and had been most recently living in central England, London police said.
"Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack," a police statement said.
"However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH [grievous bodily harm], possession of offensive weapons and public order offences."
He had not been convicted previously for any terrorism offences, it said.
In a statement to the House of Commons on Thursday, May said Masood was once investigated by intelligence officers over concerns of "violent extremism". 
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group claimed responsibility on Thursday for the attack. It said on its Amaq website the attacker "carried out the operation in response to calls for targeting citizens of the coalition" of countries fighting ISIL in Syria and Iraq.
It was not possible for Al Jazeera to independently confirm the claim, which did not offer any details of the attack or name Masood, casting doubt on whether there is any direct link between ISIL and the London killings.
Joseph Downing, from the London School of Economics, expressed scepticism over ISIL's claim.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UK police: Seven arrests over Westminster attack Six homes raided in London, Birmingham and elsewhere in the UK, police say, revising down number of victims to three.

UK police: Seven arrests over Westminster attack Six homes raided in London, Birmingham and elsewhere in the UK, police say, revising down number of victims to three. Seven people have been arrested after overnight raids on six homes over an  attack  outside the British parliament in London, according to UK police,. Mark Rowley, acting deputy commissioner at the Metropolitan police, on Thursday revised down the number of victims from Wednesday's rampage  to three from four people  Rowley said police had searched addresses in London, Birmingham and other parts of the country in their investigation over an attack , in which a man ploughed into pedestrians in a car and then went on a stabbing spree before being shot dead. "It is still our belief that the attacker acted alone was inspired by international terrorism," Rowley said. Some 40 people were wounded in the attack, 29 of whom were being treated in hospital, he added. Seven were still in critical c...
Read more

Mongolia's reindeer herders defend their way of life

Mongolia's reindeer herders defend their way of life In northern Mongolia, an ethnic group of reindeer herders and rangers face mutual distrust in protecting the same land. Tsagaannuur, Mongolia -  Seated in a white teepee perched on a cliff that overlooks a snow-covered coniferous forest, Delger Gorshik talks about how his life as a Dukha, one of the world's smallest ethnic minorities, has changed over the years. "When I was a child, the only thing we could use for a light was a candle. Today, we have electric lamps and solar panels. This teepee used to be covered with animal skin; today, we use cloth canvas," the 55-year-old says. "And now," he adds, gesturing downhill to where his daughter and son-in-law live. "As you can see, we even have wooden houses." Within the northern Mongolian snow forest, or taiga, the Dukha - whose population is estimated to be fewer than 300 - live as nomadic reindeer herders. Often referred to as the...
Read more

electronics ban on flights UK authorities to prohibit large electronic devices on direct flights coming from six Muslim-majority countries.

Britain follows US in electronics ban on flights UK authorities to prohibit large electronic devices on direct flights coming from six Muslim-majority countries. Britain will follow the United States in banning carry-on electronic goods from passanger cabins on some inbound flghts from Middle Eastern and North African nations.  Prime Minster Theresa May's office announced on Tuesday that laptops and other larger electronic devices would be banned on direct inbound flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia. Earlier in the day, the United States imposed similar restrictions on planes coming from 10 airports in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa in response to unspecified security threats.
Read more