London attacker identified as Khalid Masood

The attacker who targeted the British Parliament on Wednesday has been identified as a British citizen by the name of Khalid Masood. The attacker acted alone and he is responsible for the death of four people in a rampage which took place just outside the parliament.

The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming that one of its ‘soldiers’ carried out the attack on a call to target the countries in the US-led coalition fighting the militants.

Initially, the police were unable to identify the suspect but it was later confirmed that the attacker was Masood, who is a father of three. He had numerous convictions for violent offenses but none of them involved a terrorism charge. “(He) was not the subject of any investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack,” a statement read.

After the attack, Muslims living in the United Kingdom are nervous since the attacker was a Muslim and it might translate into stricter vigilance against the community. However, so far, the community has been receiving support from fellow citizens.

Naveed Mirza, a Muslim student, said he had received “overwhelming” support since the attack described by police as “terrorism”.

“We have come to say how, as Muslims, we unequivocally condemn all the violent actions that took place yesterday,” he told AFP.

According to the report of the tragic incident, Masood had rented a car which was used in the rampage, outside Birmingham and he told the rental company that he was a teacher.

He then mowed down pedestrians with his car along Westminster Bridge. Masood rammed the car outside the railings of the parliament and jumped out of it, fatally stabbing a 48-year-old policeman who was killed on the spot. The police then shot Masood to death.

In the rampage, three other innocent victims were also killed.

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Posted by fatimaarshad on Mar 24 2017. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.