ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed seven people in London on Saturday night.
According to the SITE Intelligence Group, the Islamic State’s official Amaq News Agency posted a message on Telegram on Sunday claiming that Saturday’s vehicle and stabbing attack was carried out by ISIS fighters.
“Security source to ‘Amaq Agency: A detachment of Islamic State fighters carried out the London attacks yesterday,” the message reads.
Counterterrorism sources told the media there is evidence suggesting the three terrorists who carried out the attack might have been waiting to strike for several months.
The trigger may have been ISIS message posted on Saturday that called on followers to use vehicles, guns and knives to “kill the civilians of the crusaders” during the holy month of Ramadan.
“They usually use these messages to simply inspire people to carry out attacks whenever the opportunity arises,” said Matt Olsen, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center and an ABC News contributor.
“So, really, the real goal is to motivate as many people as possible in the hopes that somebody will carry out an attack just like this.”
Police moved quickly into a working-class neighborhood in East London today and arrested 12 people, many of them connected to the dead terrorist who wore a fake bomb vest during the attack. It was a strategy likely intended not only to cause panic but also to guarantee and police response that would lead to martyrdom.
According to Mark Rowley, a senior officer in London’s Metropolitan Police Service, eight officers fired upwards of 50 rounds at the attackers.
“I am not surprised that when faced with what they must have feared were three suicide bombers, the officers fired an unprecedented number of rounds to be completely confident they had neutralized the threat that those men posed.” Rowley said.
The BBC tonight broadcast an interview with an anonymous neighbor who said he was so concerned about the man he called authorities. “I did my bit,” he said. “I know a lot of people did, but the authorities did not do their bit.”
With more than 3,000 potential terrorists on British watch lists, authorities say they simply cannot track every suspect or stop every attack.
Police say they already know a lot about the plot and the plotters and the ongoing investigation is focused on uncovering any potential network that could have aided the terrorists in their attack.
“Work is ongoing to understand more about them, about their connections and about whether they were assisted or supported by anyone else,” Rowley said.
So far, investigators do not see a connection between this attack and the vehicle attack in March on the Westminster bridge in London or the bomb attack two weeks ago in Manchester, but this cluster of seemingly independents suggests a broader movement that has been building for some time.
“It tell us that this wave out there is beginning to break against Britain,” Clarke said, “and that we’ve probably got to be prepared for more.
__________
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2017 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
