London attack as it happened: Met Police make arrests during early morning raids in search for jihadi network
'Gunshots' heard as 'a number' of people arrested
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Police have named two of the three terrorists responsible for Saturday's deadly attack on London Bridge.
Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, and Rachid Redouane, 30, both from Barking, East London, were identified as the perpetrators of the knife and van attack, which killed seven people and left 49 injured.
Butt was previously known to security services but the Met Police said there was no intelligence to suggest the attack was being planned. Redouane was not known to authorities, Scotland Yard said.
Police detained a number of people in early morning raids in east London as part of the investigation into the London Bridge attack which saw the attackers ram a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing revellers in bars in the nearby Borough Market.
Isis claimed responsibility for the attack, the third major militant assault to hit Britain in less than three months.
Two of the seven people who were killed have been named, and 21 people remain critically injured in hospital.
A Canadian woman, who died in her fiance's arms after being struck by the speeding van, was named as 30-year-old Christine Archibald.
A 32-year-old man from Hackney, James McMullan, has also been identified as one of the victim's by his family.
Isis was said to have urged extremists to run over civilians in a poster released over the weekend featuring a knife, handgun and lorry urging radicals to "gain benefit from Ramadan".
The three men, wearing fake suicide bomb vests, were shot dead by eight officers outside a pub after police opened fire with an "unprecedented" hail of 50 bullets, while a bystander was also shot.
Scotland Yard said seven women and five men aged between 19 and 60 were arrested under the Terrorism Act in Barking on Sunday. A 55-year-old man was later released without charge.
A vigil was held on Monday evening near London Bridge in honour of the victims of the attack, which took place at around 10pm, while a minute's silence will take place at 11am on Tuesday.
Sadiq Khan told mourners: "As Mayor of London I want to send a clear message to the sick and evil terrorists who commit these crimes: we will defeat you you will not win.
"As a proud and patriotic British Muslim, I now say this: you do not commit these disgusting acts in my name."
Network Rail said London Bridge rail and London Underground stations reopened at 5am but the rail station will be exit only.
People from around the world were caught up as hundreds cowered in pubs and restaurants, barricading themselves inside as the attackers stalked the streets.
Tales of heroism emerged in the aftermath, with one British Transport Police officer taking on the trio armed only with his baton before being stabbed in the head, face and leg.
An off-duty Metropolitan Police officer was also injured after he tackled the men.
Forty-eight people were left in hospital, 21 critically injured.
As counter-terrorism police units and security services launched a huge investigation for the third time in a matter of weeks, officers arrested a dozen people in raids on flats in Barking, east London, where residents said they believed one of the terrorists may have lived.
One neighbour said one of the attackers had recently asked him how he could hire a van.
The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Cressida Dick said: "I think those of us who weren't there are in awe of what both the police officers armed, the unarmed officers we've heard about and indeed the emergency services and members of the public - just extraordinary amounts of courage shown."
The Met officer was having a drink with friends after work when he saw his uniformed colleagues and members of the public being "severely assaulted".
"My understanding is that, without hesitation, wearing his normal clothes, he dived in and tried to assist, and he I'm afraid was himself severely injured but utterly heroic," she said.
Ms Dick also commended bystanders who stayed with the officer and administered first aid before he was driven to hospital.
Police believe they know the identity of the three attackers and have taken 12 people into custody in a series of raids across east London in an investigation involving thousands of officers, she added.
"Clearly there's a huge operation, both to make sure that we can keep people safe at that immediate scene, examine the scene and roll out proper protection across London for individuals, for events, for crowded places," she said.
She described the recent attacks as "unprecedented in my working life" and added: "We in this country have faced a terrorist threat throughout my life - it changed and morphed and we will change and adapt to what appears to be a new reality for us."
She also said Britain seems to be facing a terror threat that is largely domestic.
Police have foiled 18 terror plots since 2013 and arrest around one person every day in counter-terror raids, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner said.
"We have very good intelligence and we are frequently able to disrupt or indeed provide highly effective protection when we think an event or a particular place is at risk," Ms Dick added.
"But I understand people will be concerned and all I can say is we will be doing everything in our power and we will be stepping up a gear."
Police vans were parked outside a property on the A13 in Dagenham in east London.
James Bateman, who lives at the other side of the road, said: "At about 4am, after the large bang, I looked outside the window after being woken up and I saw about a dozen armed police officers going to and from an unmarked van."
He said they were wearing "full gear", adding: "The first bang was nothing like I'd heard before."
Mr Bateman said the bangs that followed were not as loud but sounded "the equivalent" of gunshots.
He said he thought it was more like a business address than a property where people live.
Officers were standing guard in front of the property, which is on a busy road.
Cressida Dick told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it was "certainly a possibility" that the attacks were triggering the next one.
"The rhetoric that has been coming from Daesh and other organisations has been to encourage people to take action into their own hands, to use low-tech methods, and undoubtedly when people see something which appears from their perverted point of view to be successful some people will be inspired by that, so that is most certainly a possibility."
The Commissioner also said that "all" of the recent attacks had a "primarily domestic centre of gravity".
"In the five that we've foiled, and these three recent attacks, in some of them there are undoubtedly international dimensions.
"We will always be looking to see if anything has been directed from overseas, but I would say the majority of the threat that we are facing at the moment does not appear to be directed from overseas."
Ms Dick also told Today: "We have a very fast moving investigation, we have made a number of arrests, we have also carried out lots of searches and we have got an enormous amount of forensic material.
"We do have a very large intelligence database available to us through the agencies and of our own."
She said that "people will be very concerned that there have been three horrendous attacks in the last nine weeks" but said that it was inevitable that "with a large database and some very good knowledge, on occasion somebody will, as my predecessor predicted, get through and be successful and on occasion those people may have been known to the agencies before".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments