Where will all the bloody terror end?
Killer who appeared in jihadi documentary ‘slipped through the net’ Charlie Flanagan says: ‘We are not immune... but we are on top of things’
BRITISH security services faced difficult questions last night over how at least one of the London Bridge terrorists slipped through the intelligence net.
It emerged that the 27-yearold Muslim extremist appeared in a TV documentary last year about British jihadis – and was involved in a filmed altercation with police after an Isis flag was unfurled in a park.
He was caught on camera alongside two notorious hate preachers who were well known to police and intelligence officials because of their extremist views and thinly disguised support of Isis.
As alarm grew around the world at the latest savage attack on innocent people, out Foreign Affairs Minister insisted the Government is ‘on top of things’.
Charlie Flanagan said he had been in contact with Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and the National Security Committee is in a ‘constant review’ of its strategy in response to terrorist incidents.
He told RTÉ Radio: ‘We continue to monitor the situation very closely and share intelligence at the highest level with the UK. We have an ongoing review of our international strategy, the engagement doesn’t remain static.’
Amid a series of revelations on the London attack last night, it was claimed that a friend of the Watford-born suspect had reported him to the anti-terror hotline after he became radicalised by watching extremist videos on YouTube.
It was also alleged that police were warned about the suspect radicalising children in a local park two years ago.
And yesterday, a photographer captured a detective carrying secret notes which appeared to suggest a man embroiled in the investigation had been quizzed by police last year. The suspect, who the Mail has chosen not to name at the request of police, is understood to be one of three men who embarked on a stabbing rampage in London on Saturday night. He was pictured, having been shot dead by police, lying on the ground in an Arsenal shirt.
The attackers, who were wearing fake suicide bomb vests, used a van to mow down pedestrians on London Bridge before running amok with knives in Borough Market, slitting the throats of innocent bystanders. One is reported to have yelled: ‘This is for Allah.’
They left at least seven dead and 48 injured before police marksmen halted their stabbing spree.
Last night, chilling footage showed two of the attackers sauntering through a deserted Borough Market just moments after they abandoned the white van they used in the attack.
A journalist who used his martial arts skills to tackle the terrorists is unable to speak after being stabbed in the neck. Dramatic video showed Geoff Ho clutching his throat as he staggered away from the scene just minutes after the terror attack.
On another day of extraordinary developments: ÷Police revealed they had fired an ‘unprecedented’ 50 bullets to kill the three London Bridge terrorists because they believed the attackers were wearing suicide belts; ÷A member of the public was accidentally shot by police officers in the crossfire but is expected to make a full recovery; ÷As details of the first victims emerged, the authorities said 36 people remained in hospital, with 21 in a critical condition; ÷Prime Minister Theresa May declared war on the internet giants for giving a ‘safe space’ for Islamist terrorists whose guides to carrying out terror attacks were still freely available online; ÷Labour leader accused Mrs May of denying resources to the police and security services and backed the right of the police to shoot the terrorists; ÷Amid enormous security, the One Love benefit concert got underway last night after a oneminute silence for the 22 victims who lost their lives in the bombing at the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena two weeks ago.
Yesterday police arrested 12 people in connection with the atrocities – seven women and five men. The youngest was a 19-yearold woman and the eldest was a 60-year-old woman.
Among those detained were a number taken into custody at the suspect’s home in Barking, east London, where he lived with his wife, two young children and elderly mother. Police also raided a mother and baby unit in the area, blowing off the doors in the early hours and taking away a woman aged 38 and her daughter. The woman’s partner, a Tunisian man from whom she is estranged, is believed to be among those being questioned.
In nearby East Ham, a suspect attempted to escape from police by climbing out of his first-floor bedroom window above a bookies. It emerged yesterday that the Barking suspect had previously worked for London transport operator Transport for London (TfL) and a branch of fast-food chain KFC.
A neighbour described how the man appeared to be ‘euphoric’ just hours before Saturday night’s attack and was asking about how to hire a van.
But once again, attention was focused on the intelligence failures that may have allowed him to slip the net. It follows similar questions over Salman Abedi, the Islamic extremist who killed 22 people in the suicide bombing at Manchester Arena. Scribbled handwritten comments that were being carried by a detective at the scene of yesterday’s raids, revealed a person involved in the inquiry had been ‘interrogated’ by officers over his ‘Islamist views’.
Meanwhile a neighbour claimed that they warned police about the suspect radicalising children in a local park two years ago. Erica Gasparri, an Italian mother of three who lives in the same Barking complex, told the Guardian
Far too much tolerance of an evil ideology
she confronted the man two years ago after her son came home and said: ‘Mummy, I want to be a Muslim.’ Gasparri went to the park, where she said a ‘Pakistani man’ had stated: ‘I’m ready to do whatever I need to do in the name of Allah. I am ready in the name of Allah to do what needs to be done, including killing my own mother.’ She said she took four photographs of him and gave them to the police.
Intelligence officers identified 23,000 jihadist extremists living in Britain as potential terrorist attackers. Last week senior government sources pointed to the ‘unprecedented’ scale of the threat facing the security services.
At any one time MI5 has around 500 live investigations, of which several are plots to attack in the UK. Yesterday, Mrs May promised to review Britain’s counterterrorism strategy, with the prospect of enhanced powers for police and security services and tougher jail sentences. Comment – Page 14
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