Counter Terrorism Police have been alerted after three women, alleged shouting “Allah will get you” and quoting the Quran, stabbed a nursery school worker in North London.
The victim was waiting at a junction in Wanstead at around 9.30am when she was attacked from behind by the trio, pulled to the ground, and attacked with a blade. The women’s injuries are not said to be life-threatening, but the school is on “lockdown”.
The BBC described the attackers as “three Asian women dressed in black”, but declined to mention the reports of “Allah” chants, and insisted it was not being treated as a terrorist incident at this time.
Karrien Stevens, the manager of Little Diamonds Nursery, said the worker was treated by paramedics and later taken to a hospital.
She told the East London and West Essex Guardian: “She got to the Hermon Hill traffic lights when she was attacked from behind by three girls who pulled her to the ground.
“They started kicking and punching her and then took out a knife and slashed her arm. Apparently, they were shouting parts of the Quran saying things like ‘Allah will get you.”
Speaking to the Ilford Recorder, Ms. Stevens added: “It’s scary that something like this can happen right in front of your doorstep. What is going on at the moment out there? It’s ridiculous. I don’t know what these people were hoping to achieve.”
The Met have confirmed Counter Terrorism Command are aware of the incident but said they are not leading the investigation. No arrest have been made.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We were called at 9.36am to reports of a stabbing in Hermon Hill.
“Officers responding to the scene discovered a woman in her 30s who had suffered slash wounds. Her injuries are not life-threatening but she has been taken to hospital as a precaution.
“The three suspects fled the scene before police officers arrived and they are still not accounted for.”
A spokesman for the London Ambulance service said: “We were called at 9:43 am to reports of an incident on Hermon Hill.
“We sent an ambulance crew to the scene, arriving in under six minutes. We treated a woman and the scene and took her to a hospital in east London.”