Third London Bridge attacker named after weekend terror

Jun 6, 2017 | International News, News

Eyewitness reports said the van mounted the pavement of the bridge. (Courtesy: BBC News)

By: Matt Hodder

The third London Bridge attacker on Tuesday was named as Youssef Zaghba, 22.

Zaghba was part of a terrorist attack in which seven people have been killed and 48 were left injured in London on Saturday night.

His naming comes after an eventful three days in the British capital.

Here is a chronology of the major events to date:

 

Tuesday

  • Zaghba, an Italian national of Moroccan descent, was not a subject of police or MI5 interest prior to the attack, security officials said. Police released a photo of Zaghba:

(Courtesy: London Metropolitan Police)

Monday

Some commuters left flowers for the victims on their way to work. (Courtesy: Reuters)

  • Isis claimed responsibility for the attack, saying on their Amaq news agency that a detachment of its fighters had carried it out. New barriers were installed on Waterloo, Westminster and Lambeth bridges to protect pedestrians from vehicles.
  • Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said there were four Australian victims in the weekend attack.
  • British Prime Minister Theresa May said U.S. President Donald Trump was wrong to criticize London Mayor Sadiq Khan. May said Khan had been “doing a good job” helping his city cope in the aftermath of the deadly attacks.
  • Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for May to resign as prime minister because of police cuts that came in the months and years before the recent terror attacks.
  • Meanwhile, people who lived near one of the attackers came forward, shocked that their neighbour, a loving father and Arsenal fan, could be capable of such a thing.
  • On Friday, before the attack, neighbours of one of the attackers saw a white van on their street in London, but they were not suspicious of it. It was blocking the road at one point and “a car beeped at him to say ‘move’ and he responded quite aggressively,” said one neighbour. The white van would later be used in Saturday’s attack.
  • Also on Monday, over 130 Muslim leaders refused to perform the Islamic funeral prayer for the attackers. In a statement published by the Muslim Council of Britain, the leaders urged other imams and religious authorities to follow their decision since “such indefensible actions are at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam.”
  • The second victim of the attack, James McMullan of London, 32, was named by his family. McMullan’s bank card was found on one of the bodies after Saturday night’s attack, but as of Monday the body could not be formally identified until the coroner’s report began.
  • The Independent Police Complaints Commission for England and Wales launched an investigation into Saturday’s shooting of the three suspected terrorists, and the wounding of a bystander. The number of shots fired at the three suspects was updated to 46.
  • Dr. Sajjan Gohel, a security expert, warned that people should “brace themselves” for further attacks in the near future, as it is Islam’s holy month of Ramadan.
  • In the evening, a vigil was held near London City Hall to honour the dead and injured. “As a proud and patriotic British Muslim, I now say this: you do not commit these disgusting acts in my name. Your perverse ideology has nothing to do with the true values of Islam and you will never succeed in dividing our city,” Khan told the vigil.
  • Police named two of the three attackers as Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, and Rachid Redouane, 30, of East London.
  • Scotland Yard said that Butt had been known previously to police and MI5, but there was no intelligence to suggest the attack was planned. Butt appeared in a TV documentary titled The Jihadis Next Door, which aired January of last year.
  • Metropolitan Police released photos of Butt and Redouane:

Two of the three London Bridge attackers.

  • France’s foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed that one French citizen had died and eight were injured in the attack.
  • An unattended object prompted the evacuation of a central London street. According to police, the object was only “irresponsibly placed sound monitoring equipment.”
  • Two of the 12 people who were arrested under suspicion of being connected to the attack were released.
  • Police examined what appeared to be molotov cocktails found in the attackers’ van.
  • Five people were still missing following the attacks.

 

Sunday

Theresa May said extremism has to be tackled. (Courtesy: RTE)

  • Shortly after midnight, London Metropolitan Police declared that the incident was a terror attack.
  • “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There’s no reason to be alarmed,” said London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
  • U.S. President Donald Trump sparked controversy on Twitter, criticizing Khan:
  • Khan’s spokesman called Trump’s tweet “ill-informed” and said the president had taken the mayor’s statement.
  • Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick announced that seven people died in the attack. The High Commission of Canada later confirmed that the first victim identified in the attack was Canadian Christine Archibald. She worked in a homeless shelter before moving to Europe to live with her fiance.
  • Following a meeting of the British government’s COBRA emergency committee, Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the “brutal terrorist attack.”
  • In the morning, police raided houses in East London where it was thought that one of the attackers lived. The officers made 12 arrests, and a neighbour who claimed to know one of the attackers said that one of the men asked him how to hire a van.
  • In the afternoon, police arrested two more suspects. One suspect attempted to flee through a window and along the roofs of several shops before being apprehended.
  • Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley warned that there would be “increased physical measures,” including more armed police, to ensure the safety of the city.
  • In the evening, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian confirmed that a French citizen was killed in the attack.
  • Scotland Yard said that seven women between 19 and 60, as well as five men between 27 and 55 had been detained under the Terrorism Act. One 55-year-old man had been released without charge.
  • Reports said the Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

 

Saturday

One of the London Bridge terrorists who was shot and killed by police outside of the Wheatsheaf pub on Saturday night. The attackers were all wearing fake explosive vests, officials said. (Courtesy: Gabriele Sciotto / EPA)

  • Three men ran over pedestrians with a white van near London Bridge, then they exited the vehicle and began stabbing people indiscriminately.
  • The three assailants were shot dead by police within eight minutes of the first reports to police. Eight officers fired 50 bullets, which Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said is “an unprecedented number of rounds.” A member of the public was also shot accidentally, but their injuries are not critical.
  • Before they were stopped by police the attackers were going into pubs and restaurants looking for victims. Some people were stabbed in the face and neck, while others tried to help the victims.
  • Some attempted to fight back. A British Transport Police officer was stabbed in the head, face and leg when he attempted to defend members of the public by fighting the three attackers with just his baton.
  • The assailants appeared to be sporting explosive vests, but these were determined to be fake.
  • U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter, pushing his travel ban in the wake of the attack:
  • In the evening, London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan gave a statement in which he told the city not to be alarmed by the increased police presence in the city.
  • Isis, prior to the weekend’s attack, released a poster – depicting a handgun, knife and vehicle – that urged radical supporters to “gain benefit from Ramadan.”