IS claims responsibility for attack in London
Mar 23, 2017, 8:04 AM | Updated: 2:31 pm
(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
The Islamic State group said it was responsible for an attack by a man who drove into pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge and stabbed a police officer to death near Parliament.
Six people, including a man from Utah, were killed and dozens were injured in the Wednesday rampage in the heart of the city on the one-year anniversary of a suicide bombing attack in Belgium.
BREAKING: Police: UK Parliament attacker was Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old Briton with criminal convictions.
— The Associated Press (@AP) March 23, 2017
So-called Islamic State says it was behind attack in Westminster, according to a statement from the group https://t.co/qgMizcj4z1
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) March 23, 2017
What happened in #Westminster: @skymarkwhite walks us through the locations and what happened in #London pic.twitter.com/iBQOajiw5q
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 23, 2017
The suspect, Khalid Masood, 52, who was shot to death by authorities, was born in Britain and had been investigated for links to religious extremism, Prime Minister Theresa May said Thursday.
At least eight people were arrested in raids, some in the central England city of Birmingham.
The Islamic State group said through its Aamaq News Agency that the attacker was a soldier of the Islamic State who “carried out the operation in response to calls for targeting citizens of the coalition” of countries fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.
The militant group has been responsible for several bloody attacks around the world and has specifically called for Western followers to carry out this kind of attack in their own countries.
The London attack echoed vehicle rampages in Nice, France, and Berlin last year, which IS claimed it was behind.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
