A knife-wielding attacker has reportedly slashed a man’s throat, leaving him seriously injured, and injured two others at a Tube station in East London. The attacker’s actions and words, similar to those of one of the Paris terrorist attackers, comes just days after Britain began bombing raids over the war torn country.
Various news agencies are now reporting that the man, who was unsuccessful in killing anyone despite shouting, “all of your blood will be spilled” during the attack tonight in London, is now in police custody.
The Counter-Terrorism Command of London’s Metropolitan Police have confirmed they are treating the attack as a terrorist incident.
The Mail reports: “After slashing his victim’s throat, the suspect threatened several other passengers before being confronted by a number of un-armed police officers.
“The officers ordered the suspect to drop his weapon, who continued to wave the large knife.
After refusing, police tried to control the man, who appears in the video to have attacked another member of the public while the unarmed police tried to subdue him. Police then tried to Tazer the man, and he failed to react for a few minutes. After he fell to the ground, police were able to arrest him.
Scotland Yard issued a statement: “Police were called at 19:06hrs on Saturday, 5 December, to reports of a stabbing at Leytonstone underground station. The male suspect was reportedly threatening other people with a knife.
“Met officers attended the scene. A man was arrested at 19:14hrs and taken to an east London police station where he remains in custody. A Taser was discharged by one of the Met officers.
“Officers from British Transport Police are now dealing with the incident at the scene. We are aware of one man having sustained serious stab injuries. We await details of any other injuries.”
Speaking in the wake of the stabbing, UKIP London Mayoral candidate Peter Whittle told Breitbart London: “It is shocking and terrible to witness such an apparently random attack as this on the streets of London. If, as has been reported , the attacker cried ‘this is for Syria ‘, before seriously injuring a member of the public , it is a matter of the gravest concern.”
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The assailant’s links are not yet known, but in 2012 the nearby Masjid-al-Tawhid mosque was investigated by the Charity Commission over potential terror links after a liberal imam resigned amid death threats for teaching about women’s rights and evolution.
The imam, Dr Usama Hasan, told the BBC: “There is a danger of Muslim extremism in general, so yes there is a danger of it at the mosque.
“Unfortunately they are serious allegations because some individuals with extremist and terrorist views slipped into the mosque over the years and preached there. ”
Radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki also spoke there in 2003, Dr Hasan added.
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