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At least seven dead and 50 injured in terrorist attacks in London. UK police names three murder suspects – UPDATE

Attackers drove a van at high speed into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people in the nearby Borough Market area of bars and restaurants on Saturday in what authorities described as terrorist incidents. So far UK police named three murder suspects.

Militants drove a van at high speed into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing Saturday night revelers on the street and in nearby bars, killing at least six people and wounding 50.

Armed police rushed to the scene where shots were heard and authorities urged Londoners on Twitter to “run, hide, tell” if they were caught in the attack.

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At least one dead in three incidents in London
Photo: Twitter

The attacks come days ahead of a June 8 election and less than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a pop concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Mayor of London said Londoners would see an increased police presence in the city after the deadly incident but there was no reason to panic. He urged people to remain calm and vigilant.

Political parties announced that they suspended campaign activities due to attacks. Theresa May announced the campaign will resume on Monday, in full.

UPDATE: British police named the third of the jihadis who killed seven people in a knife and van attack in London as Youssef Zaghba, 22, believed to be an Italian national of Moroccan descent.

The fallout from the attack eclipsed all other subjects in the political campaign ahead of Thursday’s general election, with both the ruling Conservatives and opposition Labour Party battling to defend their records on security.

Police said Zaghba had not been a subject of interest for them or for the MI5 domestic intelligence agency.

Earlier, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera had reported that Zaghba had been stopped at an Italian airport because authorities believed he was on his way to Syria, and that Italian officials had warned British counterparts about him.

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Police had named the other two attackers as Khuram Butt, 27, a British national born in Pakistan, and Rachid Redouane, 30, who had claimed to be Moroccan and Libyan. Butt was previously known to security agencies and had appeared in a British TV documentary called “The Jihadis Next Door”.

UPDATE: Ten of the people arrested on Sunday as part of investigations into the London Bridge attack have been released without charge, British police said on Monday, meaning that all 12 arrested in the aftermath of the incident have now been let go.

The Metropolitan Police also said in a statement that specialist officers were working with families and the coroner to identify those who died in the attack.

In Britain’s third Islamist attack in as many months, three men rammed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before running into the Borough Market nightlife area, where they slit throats and stabbed people indiscriminately. Seven people were killed and dozens wounded.

UPDATE: British police found what appeared to be Molotov cocktails in the back of the van used by three militants to ram people during the London Bridge attack, Sky News said on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

At least a dozen bottles filled with clear liquid, which had rags stuffed in their tops, were found in the back of the hired van, and police had treated them as though they were petrol bombs, Sky News said.

UPDATE: One of the three attackers who killed seven people near London Bridge on Saturday night was previously investigated by British security services but had not been viewed as a serious threat, British police said on Monday.

Khuram Shazad Butt, aged 27, was a British citizen born in Pakistan, who was already known to police and Britain’s domestic spy agency MI5, London’s police force said.

“However, there was no intelligence to suggest that this attack was being planned and the investigation had been prioritised accordingly,” police said in a statement.

The second attacker was named as 30-year-old Rachid Redouane, who police said claimed to be Moroccan and Libyan, and also went by the name Rachid Elkhdar with a different date of birth. Both men lived in the same area of east London.

Police said they were still working to establish the identity of the third attacker.

UPDATE: Eighteen people remain in a critical condition and a further 18 are still being treated in hospital after Saturday’s attack on London Bridge, British health authorities said on Monday.

UPDATE: May defends mayor of London against Trump tweets and says Khan is doing a good job and people saying anything else are wrong.

UPDATE: One of the attacker had an Irish identity card on him, according to the Guardian. It is suggested that the Moroccan man was married to a woman from Scotland and lived in Dublin while in Ireland. Irish police are holding a security meeting on this issue.

UPDATE: Britain’s government and local authorities are working closely with the police to guarantee security around the national election, and robust plans have been in place for weeks, Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokeswoman said on Monday.

“There are plans in place for the general election. Police have been working closely with local authorities for several weeks on this. Those plans were developed with the threat level being at ‘severe’ so they are pretty robust,” the spokeswoman told reporters.”Police review security for all events but we have been working very closely with them and local authorities for some time.”

UPDATE: Theresa May delivers speech on election and talks about leadership and the importance of Brexit negotiations.

“Keeping our country safe should be the priority of every government,” Theresa May said.

PM also talked about stopping extremism, online and though military action. She underlined the changing nature of extremism threat and repeated the need of a new counter-terrorism strategy.

UPDATE: Hospitals in London have extra security measures put in place.

UPDATE: According to the Guardian, one of the addresses raided on Monday is a known cross-dresser club.

UPDATE: May says threat level remains severe. PM also stated that 11 people are still in custody.

“JTAC, the independent joint terrorism analysis centre, have confirmed that the national threat level remains at severe, that means that a terrorist attack is highly likely,” she told BBC television after a meeting of the government’s emergency committee.

Regarding the victims of the attack, May said that some are foreign nationals and the police are working to identify the victims.

“It is now clear that, sadly, victims came from a number of nationalities. This was an attack on London and the United Kingdom, but it was also an attack on the free world,” May concluded her statement.

UPDATE: The Canadian woman killed during the attack in London was struck on London Bridge and died in her fiancé’s arms, Canadian press reports. According to the same sources, Christine Archibald was visiting London for the weekend.

The fiancé’s brother broke the news on Facebook with a post describing the circumstances of Christine’s death.

“I can’t even believe this is real! My brother and his fiancé were on London bridge last night. She was one of the victims struck by the van. They tried everything but weren’t able to save her. His life, and all those close to her have been changed forever. My heart goes out to her family in his desperate time. These senseless acts of terror need to stop! What does it accomplish other then wreck the lives of innocent people.? I’m so mad at the type of people who can do this. Please everyone live life to the fullest, it’s so fragile and can be ripped away at any moment. I love you Tyler! Stay strong.!,” Mark Ferguson said on Facebook.

Christine was described by her family in a statement made to the Canadian press.

“She had room in her heart for everyone and believed strongly that every person was to be valued and respected,” the statement said. “She would have had no understanding of the callous cruelty that caused her death. Please honour her by making your community a better place.”

UPDATE: According to Twitter posts, Southwark cathedral and Borough Market remain closed as police are continuing their investigations in the area.

UPDATE: According to Scotland Yard, one BTP officer and three Met officers were injured during the attack on Saturday night. The further two Met officers were both on duty Southwark officers. One a plain clothes officer who received stitches to a head injury and a uniformed officer received an injury to his arm.

The off duty Southwark officer remains in hospital in a serious condition.

UPDATE: Witnesses report barriers set up on Westminster Bridge to separate pedestrians form traffic.

UPDATE: The three attacks carried out by Islamist militants in Britain in the last three months have been largely domestic plots and the majority of the threat facing the country is not directed from overseas, London’s police chief said on Monday.

“All the recent attacks I think have a primarily domestic centre of gravity,” Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick told BBC radio.

“There are in the five that we have foiled and these three recent attacks, in some of them there are undoubtedly international dimensions. We will always be looking to see if anything has been directed from overseas but I would say the majority of the threat that we are facing at the moment does not appear to be directed from overseas.”

UPDATE:  Isis has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack. In a statement published late on Sunday by the Amaq news agency, which usually carries its claims, it said “A detachment of Islamic State fighters executed yesterday’s London attack.” The Guardian reports.

Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, said detectives were investigating whether the three terror suspects were “assisted or supported” by a wider network.

Police say they believe all the attackers were killed after armed officers “fired an unprecedented number of rounds” to shoot them dead during their attack on Borough Market.

Neighbours described one of the suspected attackers as a married father of two who attended local mosques. One neighbour told the Guardian she had reported the man to police two years ago after fears he was attempting to radicalise children.

UPDATE: British police detained a number of people during early morning raids in east London on Monday as part of an investigation into an attack that killed seven people and injured around 50 on Saturday night.

In the third major militant assault to hit Britain in less than three months, attackers rammed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing revellers in nearby bars.

Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee on Monday to discuss the response to the attack which comes ahead of a national election on Thursday.

Police had already arrested 12 people in the Barking district of east London over the weekend and they said on Monday they had entered two premises in Newham and Barking at 0315 GMT and detained “a number of people”. They said searches were ongoing at both addresses.

UPDATE: One French national has died after Saturday’s London attack by three militants, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday.

Le Drian said on BFM TV that seven French citizens were in hospital, four of them with serious injuries, and one French national was still missing, Le Drian said

UPDATE: Eight police officers fired an unprecedented number of bullets to stop three attackers in London who appeared to be suicide bombers wearing explosive vests, Britain’s counter-terrorism police chief said on Sunday.

The three attackers drove a hired van into pedestrians on London Bridge then ran into the bustling Borough Market area where they stabbed numerous people. Seven died and 48 were taken to hospital.

“Eight police firearms officers discharged their weapons … Our initial assesment is in the region of 50 rounds, in the region of 50 bullets were fired by those eight officers. The three attackers were shot dead,” Rowley said

UPDATE: BBC reports that identity of attackers will not be made public at this time.

UPDATE: Counter-terrorism chief confirms some victims are foreign nationals. He told reporters that Londoners could see increased physical measures to keep bridges safe.

UPDATE: A Canadian national is among the seven people who were killed by three attackers who drove a van at pedestrians and stabbed others in the London Bridge area of London, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday.

“Canada strongly condemns the senseless attack that took place last night in London, United Kingdom, which killed and injured many innocent people. I am heartbroken that a Canadian is among those killed,” Trudeau said in a statement.

UPDATE: British police were searching an address in East Ham, a neighbourhood in east London, a Reuters photographer said on Sunday, describing a cordon outside the building and a large police presence

UPDATE: NHS England reports that 21 of those injured in the London attack are in critical condition.

UPDATE: According to media reports, a spokesperson for the mayor of London said that Sadiq Khan is working closely with Downing Street and has not time to answer president Trump’s “ill informed” tweets.

UPDATE: Witnesses report heavy police presence in East Ham Town Hall on Barking Road.

UPDATE: Neighbor of suspected attacker told Sky News that the man was asking about how to lease a van.

Sky News reporters in Barking says construction workers arrived on site suggesting that they could dig up a near-by garden.

UPDATE: The UK will observe a minute’s silence on Tuesday 6 June at 11 am while flags will fly at half mast until Tuesday evening.

UPDATE: The Guardian, citing neighbor of one of the suspected attackers, says that the men was “forcibly removed from a local mosque” after questioning the Imam during a service.

UPDATE: Candice Hedge, 34, from Brisbane, named as one of the Australian citizens injured in the attack. According to Australian media, the family says that she is recovering after being stabbed.

UPDATE: BTP chief constable Paul Crowther says officers wounded in the attack while confronting one terrorists by only using his baton is in stable condition.

UPDATE: Both the British Transport Police officer and the off-duty Metropolitan Police officer injured in the attack remain in hospital with serious injuries but neither are believed to be in a life-threatening condition, the Met added.

UPDATE: Met Police confirms 12 arrests in Barking as investigation is ongoing.

“Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command have this morning, Sunday 4 June, arrested 12 people in Barking, east London, in connection with last night’s incidents in London Bridge and the Borough Market area. Searches of a number of addresses in Barking are continuing,” Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

UPDATE: Iran said on Sunday the London attacks were a “wake-up call” and urged Western states to go after ideological and financial sources of terrorism, state media reported, in a thinly veiled reference to Saudi Arabia.

Repeated blind terror attacks around the world are a wake-up call for the world community,” the official Iranian news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying. “To uproot terror, it is necessary that they (Western states) address the root causes as well as the main financial and ideological sources of extremism and violence, which are clear to everyone,” Qasemi was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Iran denies Western charges of sponsoring terrorism, and accuses Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam and funding from its arch-rival of being behind Sunni militant groups who have been behind a recent spate of deadly attacks in Europe.

UPDATE: British reporters on the scene in East London said that they saw four women with headscarves being taken out of the buildings in Barking.

UPDATE: Donald Trump takes to Twitter, with own view on London terror attacks. Trump rejects politically correctness while criticizing the mayor of London. Also takes gun laws into account saying that gun laws do not protect against terrorists while failing to take into account what the death toll could have been if attackers would have had guns.

UPDATE: One of the attacker lived in Barking, where police investigation are underway. According to Sky News, some of the citizens recognized their neighbor in last night’s photos but cannot be sure.

Police raided an address in east London used by one of the three attackers who killed seven people in the city centre, Sky News reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.

An eyewitness to the raid told Sky he heard several bangs during the operation and was later told they were controlled explosions

UPDATE: According to British media reports, the intelligence community is against raising the threat level.

UPDATE: Home Secretary asking for international agreement  to make internet companies do more to fight extremism online. Britain’s interior minister Amber Rudd said the attackers were probably radical Islamist terrorists.

“As the prime minister said, we are confident about the fact that they were radical Islamist terrorists, the way they were inspired, and we need to find out more about where this radicalisation came from,” Rudd told ITV television

UPDATE: Sky News reports police operation underway at a block of flats in Barking, without the area being evacuated. Sky News showed aerial footage of a cordon around a block of flats and an ambulance parked outside.

Reporter also said that five people were arrested as a result of the raid.

UPDATE: Theresa May is asking for international accord over regulating cyberspace in order to prevent spread of extremism. She is also not rejecting judiciary changes when it comes to terrorism related charges.

“We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed. Yet that is precisely what the internet and the big companies that provide internet-based services provide,” May said. “We need to work with allied democratic governments to reach international agreements that regulate cyberspace.”

“Enough is enough,” said Theresa May underlining that people should go about with their normal lives and that things have to change in fighting extremist ideology.

Theresa May said campaigning will resume tomorrow.

“Violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process, so those campaigns will resume in full tomorrow and the general election will go ahead as planned on Thursday,” said May.

UPDATE: Theresa May said, after Cobra meeting, that the terrorists wore what seemed to be explosive vests but they were fake and made to inspire fear.

People injured in the attack are still in critical condition.

The PM paid tribute to those that intervened and to civilians that rushed to aid others.

The Police have prevented five other plots since Manchester. Perpetrators are inspired to attack, not after years of preparation but using crude manners, said May.

“We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face as terrorism breeds terrorism, and perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots after years of planning and training, and not even as lone attackers radicalised online, but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack,” the PM told reporters.

UPDATE: Police officer responding to last night’s attacks puts poignant message on Twitter.

UPDATE: UKIP said campaign will go ahead as they consider that terrorists want to disrupt democracy. Other parties have announced suspending campaign activity while local activities will go ahead but taking into account the situation.

Corbyn said that Labour will resume campaigning, later in the day. Corbyn also said that elections are important and that people have to pull together.

“We have to mourn all those who have died” and thank the people who have helped, Corbyn added.

UPDATE: Threat level remains severe but the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre would be considering whether to raise the level to critical, said Met Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick.

UPDATE: Cressida Dick says the identity of the attackers is not know at this time.

UPDATE: Putin’s Russia says efforts should be stepped up to fight terrorism.

“The President of Russia expressed his confidence that the build-up of joint efforts to fight forces of terror all over the world should become the common answer on what happened,” the Kremlin said.

UPDATE: Metropolitan Police Commissioner said seven people, members of the public, died, 47 people are injured.

“It has now been confirmed sadly that seven members of the public have died. In addition, as you know, we believe, three suspects are dead,” she said in a televised statement.

Cressida Dick said that many people risked their lives to help and save others.

“Many, many people risked their own safety to help others and treat those seriously injured and indeed to confront suspects involved. The courage of those people during and following the attack was extraordinary and I pay tribute to all of them,” Police Commissioner said.

The suspects were confronted by the police and it took 8 minutes to take them down.

UPDATE: Manchester Police says events in the city will go ahead but with extra security in place and some officers will be armed due to the London attacks.

UPDATE: Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was saddened and dismayed by the attack in London on Saturday in which at least six people were killed, and that Germany stood by Britain’s side in the fight against terrorism.

“Today, we are united across all borders in horror and sadness, but equally in determination,” Merkel said in a statement issued on Sunday.

“I stress for Germany: in the fight against all forms of terrorism, we stand firmly and decisively at Britain’s side.”

UPDATE: UK Labour Party announced they will suspend their national campaign.

“The Labour Party will be suspending national campaigning until this evening, after consultations with other parties, as a mark of respect for those who have died and suffered injury,” Corbyn said

UPDATE: The Scottish National Party have called off campaigning for Thursday’s parliamentary election after an attack in London which killed six people, a spokesman for the party said on Sunday.

UPDATE: Two Australians were directly affected in an attack in London on Saturday night, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.

One of the victims was confirmed to be in the hospital, while Australian authorities were working to determine the status of the second person, Turnbull told at a news conference on Sunday.

UPDATE: Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee later this morning

UPDATE: The London Ambulance Service says it took over 100 calls for the incident at London Bridge and it treated “a number of others at the scene for minor injuries”. More than 80 medics were sent to the scene.

UPDATE: Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the attack in London as “horrific”. She said she will chair a meeting of the Scottish government’s resilience committee later.

UPDATE:  Britain’s national parliamentary election on Thursday should not be postponed following an attack in London that killed six people late on Saturday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.

Khan said Londoners would see an increased police presence in the city after the deadly incident but there was no reason to panic. He urged people to remain calm and vigilant.

Khan also said the official threat level remained at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.

“One of the things that we can do is show that we aren’t going to be cowed, is by voting on Thursday and making sure that we understand the importance of our democracy, our civil liberties and our human rights,” Khan said.

“I’m not an advocate of postponing the election. I’m a passionate believer in democracy and making sure that we vote and we recognise actually that one of the things these terrorists hate is voting, they hate democracy,” he said.

UPDATE: At least two French citizens have been injured in an attack in London on Saturday night, the French president’s office said.

“French citizens are among the victims (of the London attack),” French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement on Sunday.

A spokesperson at his office added that one of the two French citizens was seriously injured.

French president Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter that “France is standing more than ever side by side with the UK”.

UPDATE: General Election campaigning has been suspended. The Conservative Party issued a statement saying: “The Conservative Party will not be campaigning nationally today. We will review as the day goes on and as more details of the attack emerge.”

Other major parties are expected to suspend their campaign.

UPDATE: Police confirm three male suspects were shot and killed by armed officers. Mark Rowley, assistant commissioner for the Metropolitan Police has stated that the three suspects were shot within 8 minutes of the first call to Emergency Services.

UPDATE: “Sadly, six people have died in addition to the three attackers shot by police,” Mark Rowley, Britain’s top anti-terrorism officer, said. The three attackers had been wearing what looked like explosive vests that were later found to have been hoaxes, Scotland Yard has said.

UPDATE: The number of injured people has currently risen to 48, according to London Ambulance Service. Five hospitals provided assistance to the injured. The London ambulance service said more than 30 people had been taken to hospitals across the city.

UPDATE: At least 20 people were taken to six hospitals across London following the London Bridge incident, according to the London Ambulance Service.

“We have taken at least 20 patients to six hospitals across London following the incident at London Bridge,” the London Ambulance Service’s assistant director of operations, Peter Rhodes, said in a statement on Sunday.

“We have also treated a number of people at the scene for less serious injuries,” he added.

UPDATE: London Bridge has been sealed off by the authorities following last night’s attack.

Southeastern Railway tweets that its trains won’t be stopping at London Bridge “all day” on Sunday.

Southeastern Railway tweets that its trains won’t be stopping at London Bridge “all day” on Sunday.

UPDATE: Three major London hospitals said on Sunday that they were on lockdown after attacks near London Bridge late on Saturday in which up to seven people are feared dead.

“Due to the ongoing incident in central London, Guy’s, St Thomas’ & EvelinaLondon are on lockdown to keep patients, relatives, and staff safe,” the authority that runs the hospitals said on Twitter.

Guy’s Hospital is next to London Bridge rail station, and St Thomas’ Hospital and the Evelina children’s hospital are located a mile away.

UPDATE: London mayor Sadiq Khan said an attack in central London late on Saturday was a “deliberate and cowardly attack”, and that he would take part in a security meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May later on Sunday.

“We don’t yet know the full details, but this was a deliberate and cowardly attack on innocent Londoners and visitors,” Khan said. “I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. There is no justification whatsoever for such barbaric acts,” he added.

UPDATE: Harun Khan, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, says: “I am appalled and angered by the terrorist attacks at London Bridge and Borough Market, in my home city. These acts of violence were truly shocking and I condemn them in the strongest terms.”

UPDATE: At least six people were seen on the ground after a white van ploughed into people on London Bridge, a witness told Reuters.

The witness, who was doing a night photography class on London Bridge, said he saw the van veering on and off the pavement on the bridge.

At least one dead in three incidents in London. PM: Incidents are treated as a potential act of terrorism
Photo: Facebook

“It looked like he was aiming for groups of people. I froze beacause I didn’t know what to do,” Mark Roberts, a 53-year-old management consultant, told Reuters. “It was horrendous.”

“I was thinking: Which way do I run to get away?” he said, adding that the van then veered onto the other side of the bridge before hitting a girl. “I immediately thought this was the Westminster attack all over again.”

london bridge attack
Photo: Facebook

UPDATE: British Police confirmed via Twitter that the incidents on London Bridge and in the Borough Market area are terrorist acts.

The Vauxhall incident is not connected with the other two.

UPDATE: Incidents in London are treated as a potential act of terrorism, according to PM Theresa May.

“Following updates from police and security officials, I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism,” May said just over four days before voting is due to begin in a June 8 national election.

“This is a fast moving investigation,” May said. “I want to express my huge gratitude to the police and emergency services who are on the scene. Our thoughts are with those who are caught up in these dreadful events.”

UPDATE:

UPDATE: British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Twitter that the incidents in London are “brutal and shocking”.

UPDATE: President Donald Trump took to Twitter amid the unfolding deadly drama in London on Saturday to offer help to Britain and to promote his controversial travel ban as an extra level of security for Americans.

“Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there – WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!” Trump said in one of two tweets.

In another tweet, he advised: “We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!”

UPDATE: Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a meeting of the country’s top security committee on Sunday morning after attacks in central London on Saturday, media reports said.

UPDATE: Vauxhall station is now opened.

UPDATE: British police said they were responding to an incident in the Vauxhall area of London after an incident involving a vehicle on London Bridge earlier on Saturday.

Police also said they fired shots after reports of stabbings in the Borough Market area which is located close to London Bridge.

UPDATE: At least one person died in the London incidents, according to British Police.

UPDATE: Prime Minister Theresa May had been in contact with officials and U.S. President Donald Trump had been briefed about the situation, according to BBC.

UPDATE: U.S. President Donald Trump has been briefed about the incident at London Bridge in Britain by his national security team, the White House said on Saturday.

The national security team “will continue to provide updates” to the president, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a message posted on Twitter.

UPDATE: Police officers are searching for three suspects who may be armed after London Bridge incident.

British Transport Police said casualties were reported after an incident that may have involved a van and a knife attack, the BBC said, while the London Ambulance Service said it was sending multiple resources to the incident.

Police said armed officers were also responding to an incident in the nearby Borough Market area of the city.

One witness told Reuters that she saw what appeared to be three people with knife wounds and possibly their throats cut at London Bridge. Reuters was unable to immediately verify her account.

Another witness told the BBC she saw a speeding white van veering into pedestrians. That witness said the van hit five to six people. Reuters television pictures showed dozens of emergency vehicles in the area around London Bridge.

Several witnesses also reported hearing gunshots.

“We were in an Uber (taxi) going towards London Bridge and suddenly we saw people running. The Uber stopped, we asked people what was going on – people said there was shooting,” said Yoann Belmere, 40, a French banker living in London.

“Now the area is completely closed with police cars going one way and ambulances going the other,” he told Reuters.

London’s transport authority said London Bridge rail station had been closed at the request of the police.

Islamic State, losing territory in Syria and Iraq to an advance backed by a U.S-led coalition, sent out a call on instant messaging service Telegram early on Saturday urging its followers to launch attacks with trucks, knives and guns against “Crusaders” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Similar attacks, in Berlin, Nice, Brussels and Paris, have been carried out by militants over the past two years.

The incident comes days ahead of a June 8 election, with polls suggesting the lead of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party has dropped sharply.

It also comes less than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a pop concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England.

The Manchester bombing on May 22 was the deadliest attack in Britain since July 2005, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people in coordinated attacks on London’s transport network.

Reuters

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