A major police operation was launched in Britain today after two suspected terrorists murdered a man, reported to be a soldier, in the street in broad daylight in Woolwich, south east London.
One Whitehall source said the attackers, who are now being treated in hospital after being shot by police, were heard to shout ‘Allah Akbar’ during the assault.
One of the men behind the attack was filmed wielding a bloodied meat cleaver and saying, “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you.”
The man, dressed in a grey hooded jacket and black woolly hat, apologises to members of the public who witnessed the horrific scenes before making a number of political statements.
In the footage, obtained by ITV News, he is heard to say: “We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I apologise that women have had to witness this today, but in our land our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don’t care about you.”
The attacker, who spoke clear English without a foreign accent, is then seen walking towards his victim, lying in the street. Another man is stood over the body.
Eyewitnesses said the victim was hacked to death, with some suggesting his attackers tried to behead him, before charging at police when they arrived on the scene in Woolwich, south east London.
A local MP said the victim was believed to be a soldier.
British prime minister David Cameron called a meeting of his government’s Cobra crisis committee, describing the incident as “truly shocking”.
Cobra meetings are crisis response committees set up to coordinate the actions of different agencies, including the security services, police and local authorities.
The meeting, which lasted around an hour, heard that security had been tightened at Woolwich barracks and increased at all London barracks and that there were strong indications that it was a terrorist incident.
Downing Street said Mr Cameron, who was planning to stay in Paris overnight after meeting the French president, would be returning tonight instead.
At a press conference in Paris, Mr Cameron said Britain has faced such terror attacks before and added: “We will never buckle in the face of it.”
Home Secretary Theresa May called it a “sickening and barbaric attack.”
Several witnesses described seeing a “beheading” while another described seeing a man wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt being attacked with a machete-style knife and dumped inthe street.
Woolwich and Greenwich MP Nick Raynsford said it was his understanding that one person, a serving soldier, was dead and his two alleged killers were taken to hospital. London Ambulance Service confirmed a man was found dead at the scene, while two other men were taken to hospital, one of them in a serious condition.
Agencies