News coverage of Woolwich attacks. (BBC NEWS)
A man
was murdered in the street in broad daylight in Woolwich, London, on the
afternoon of 22 May 2013. It was feared the incident was a terror attack, with
reports of chants of Allahu Akbar. The victim was believed to be a
soldier. Woolwich murder: 200 Islamophobic incidents since
Lee Rigby's killing. Sharp rise in reported cases, including
attacks on 10 mosques, raises fears of sustained targeting of Muslim communities. Fears that Muslim communities across the
country are facing a sustained wave of attacks and intimidation have intensified
after it emerged that almost 200 Islamophobic incidents had been reported since
the murder of British soldier Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London last week. One of the suspects is understood to be 28-year-old Muslim convert Michael
Adebolajo, according to sources.
He and another man are under arrest in hospital after being shot by police after Wednesday's attack in Woolwich.Prime Minister David Cameron has said the UK will "never give in to terror or terrorism".Shortly after the killing a man, thought to be Mr Adebolajo, was filmed by a passer-by, saying he carried out the attack because British soldiers killed Muslims every day.Sources said reports the men had featured in "several investigations" in recent years - but were not deemed to be planning an attack - "were not inaccurate".They confirmed one of the suspects was intercepted by police last year while leaving the country.Speaking outside 10 Downing Street on Thursday, Mr Cameron said: "One of the best ways of defeating terrorism is to go about our normal lives."He said there was no justification in Islam for the attacks, which were "solely and purely" the responsibility of the individuals involved.Across London there are 1,200 extra police officers on duty in response to the attacks, Assistant Commissioner Simon Byrne said.Earlier officers raided a flat believed to belong to one of the attackers on a Greenwich housing estate.Neighbours said two sisters in their 30s, an older woman and a teenage boy were taken away in a police van.An address in Saxilby, Lincolnshire, is also being searched in connection with the attack.According to BBC sources, Mr Adebolajo, a Briton of Nigerian descent, comes from a devout Christian family but took up Islam after leaving college in 2001.He was described as "bright and witty" when he was at college. Witnesses said the soldier was attacked at 14:20 BST with knives and a cleaver in Artillery Place, near Woolwich Barracks, by two men shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great). ( BBC NEWS)
He and another man are under arrest in hospital after being shot by police after Wednesday's attack in Woolwich.Prime Minister David Cameron has said the UK will "never give in to terror or terrorism".Shortly after the killing a man, thought to be Mr Adebolajo, was filmed by a passer-by, saying he carried out the attack because British soldiers killed Muslims every day.Sources said reports the men had featured in "several investigations" in recent years - but were not deemed to be planning an attack - "were not inaccurate".They confirmed one of the suspects was intercepted by police last year while leaving the country.Speaking outside 10 Downing Street on Thursday, Mr Cameron said: "One of the best ways of defeating terrorism is to go about our normal lives."He said there was no justification in Islam for the attacks, which were "solely and purely" the responsibility of the individuals involved.Across London there are 1,200 extra police officers on duty in response to the attacks, Assistant Commissioner Simon Byrne said.Earlier officers raided a flat believed to belong to one of the attackers on a Greenwich housing estate.Neighbours said two sisters in their 30s, an older woman and a teenage boy were taken away in a police van.An address in Saxilby, Lincolnshire, is also being searched in connection with the attack.According to BBC sources, Mr Adebolajo, a Briton of Nigerian descent, comes from a devout Christian family but took up Islam after leaving college in 2001.He was described as "bright and witty" when he was at college. Witnesses said the soldier was attacked at 14:20 BST with knives and a cleaver in Artillery Place, near Woolwich Barracks, by two men shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great). ( BBC NEWS)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAh7FEEsLpU - Woolwich soldier murder.
The language attributed to one of the men filmed at the scene, and brandishing a bloodied knife, was stark: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reasons we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day. This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We must fight them.
"I apologise that women 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."
This is classic al-Qaida rhetoric, similar to the phrases used by suicide bombers who have left martyrdom videos. Though the man did not appear to mention Afghanistan, this is the only country in which British soldiers are now directly embroiled in a conflict.
More than 440 soldiers have been killed in the 12-year war in Afghanistan, including some shot by members of the Afghan security forces they are supposed to be supporting. British and Nato involvement in the fight against the Taliban is winding down, but the UK will still have a presence there until the end of next year.
The decision last night to convene Cobra, the Cabinet Office committee that deals with security emergencies, came after the home secretary took soundings from the new head of MI5, Andrew Parker, and the Scotland Yard commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe.
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), which includes members from MI5, MI6, GCHQ, the police and Ministry of Defence, will convene to decide what conclusions can be drawn from what has happened, even at this early stage.
Crucially, JTAC will recommend whether to alter the national threat assessment level, which now stands at "substantial".
If there is any suggestion that this attack might be the start of a wave, the threat level will be increased to either severe or the highest level, critical.MI5 and Scotland Yard have warned repeatedly in recent years about self-starters – people who have been radicalised in the UK, affected, perhaps, by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, or by Arab spring events, or by emerging al-Qaida networks in Africa.
Hundreds of Britons are known to have gone to Syria over the last two years to support the rebellion against Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian conflict is now the "jihadist destination of choice", according to Whitehall officials. Britons are also known to have been involved with the al-Nusra front, which is heavily infused with al-Qaida elements from Iraq and has been designated a terrorist group by the US.
Some of those people going abroad from the UK were already known to MI5 and MI6; some have now returned home. Many others will have come and gone without investigators knowing.
The same thing has happened in Somalia, where a smaller number of Britons have been in recent years, to support the al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab.
"What they do when they come back here is more worrying to us than what they do when they are out there," is how one official put it.
Even if those responsible for the Woolwich attack had not been abroad, they could have been motivated closer to home or online.
Security officials have highlighted the dangers posed by the al-Qaida online magazine, Inspire, which is constantly urging its readers to undertake attacks, rather than wait for training or orders from above.
Inspire, which is the work of al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsular (AQAP), has been causing concern since it was first published in 2010; the latest edition has just been published and is said to include an "Open Source Jihad (OSJ) section … for aspiring jihadists seeking to assassinate US and European leaders".
Though some academics have doubted whether Inspire is such a powerful tool, there is evidence that people inclined to commit violence have been tipped into action by such entreaties.
Some of the biggest counter terror operations of recent years have involved suspects who have turned by Inspire.
Three men from Birmingham were convicted this year of plotting the biggest potential terrorist atrocity than the 7 July attacks. They had read the magazine and been influenced by the preachings of Anwar al Awlaki, the now dead former AQAP leader.
Attempts have been made to shut down the magazine, and to disrupt it by cyber warfare. Two years ago MI6 and GCHQ hacked into an article which set out how to make a bomb, and replaced the recipe with one for cupcakes. However, the magazine is still disseminated via internet forums.
Other extremists who have used Awlaki as motivation to mount terror attacks in the UK include Roshonara Choudhry, who attacked the Labour MP Stephen Timms in his constituency surgery.
Choudry, who was jailed for life in 2010, is also said to have named a US-based website as a source of inspiration. In 2007 a group of extremists in Birmingham plotted to behead a British Muslim soldier to undermine the morale of the British army and inhibit its recruitment of Muslims. The leader, Parviz Khan, admitted the plot and was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve at least 14 years.
Though the number of people arrested for terrorist offences have fallen in recent years, the police and MI5 still make arrests, and still uncover plots. "They haven't given up," an official said.
Last year, the Royal United Services Institute [RUSI] thinktank published a report which set out the difficulties now facing counter-terrorism officers; with al-Qaida fragmented and "franchised" across the Arab world and in Africa, identifying suspects was seen as harder than ever.
The report warned: "Though the death of Bin Laden began a succession of counter-terrorist victories in 2011, the threat from Jihadist terrorism has not diminished. If anything, the risk has evolved from plots carried out by organised cells within a leadership structure, to one carried out by lone wolves, radicalised by material on the internet.
"The latter is harder to track down and is potent given the uncertain international situation; where the outcome of the Arab spring has not been settled, and where there are frequent returns of British citizens from war zones such as Somalia and Yemen."
The institute noted the arrival home of self-radicalised fighters would coincide with the steady release from prison of people convicted of terrorist offences in Britain over the last decade. It says their sentences, for good legal reasons, typically have not been very long.
Michael Clarke, the director of RUSI, said: "More experienced lone-wolf terrorists are likely to be returning to Britain in the next couple of years, not from training camps in Pakistan and via airports in Karachi and Dubai, but from wars in Somalia, Yemen, or Nigeria, from the renewed violence in Iraq, and from destinations and via routes that will be far more difficult for security services to monitor."
The language attributed to one of the men filmed at the scene, and brandishing a bloodied knife, was stark: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. The only reasons we have done this is because Muslims are dying every day. This British soldier is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We must fight them.
"I apologise that women 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."
This is classic al-Qaida rhetoric, similar to the phrases used by suicide bombers who have left martyrdom videos. Though the man did not appear to mention Afghanistan, this is the only country in which British soldiers are now directly embroiled in a conflict.
More than 440 soldiers have been killed in the 12-year war in Afghanistan, including some shot by members of the Afghan security forces they are supposed to be supporting. British and Nato involvement in the fight against the Taliban is winding down, but the UK will still have a presence there until the end of next year.
The decision last night to convene Cobra, the Cabinet Office committee that deals with security emergencies, came after the home secretary took soundings from the new head of MI5, Andrew Parker, and the Scotland Yard commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe.
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), which includes members from MI5, MI6, GCHQ, the police and Ministry of Defence, will convene to decide what conclusions can be drawn from what has happened, even at this early stage.
Crucially, JTAC will recommend whether to alter the national threat assessment level, which now stands at "substantial".
If there is any suggestion that this attack might be the start of a wave, the threat level will be increased to either severe or the highest level, critical.MI5 and Scotland Yard have warned repeatedly in recent years about self-starters – people who have been radicalised in the UK, affected, perhaps, by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, or by Arab spring events, or by emerging al-Qaida networks in Africa.
Hundreds of Britons are known to have gone to Syria over the last two years to support the rebellion against Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian conflict is now the "jihadist destination of choice", according to Whitehall officials. Britons are also known to have been involved with the al-Nusra front, which is heavily infused with al-Qaida elements from Iraq and has been designated a terrorist group by the US.
Some of those people going abroad from the UK were already known to MI5 and MI6; some have now returned home. Many others will have come and gone without investigators knowing.
The same thing has happened in Somalia, where a smaller number of Britons have been in recent years, to support the al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab.
"What they do when they come back here is more worrying to us than what they do when they are out there," is how one official put it.
Even if those responsible for the Woolwich attack had not been abroad, they could have been motivated closer to home or online.
Security officials have highlighted the dangers posed by the al-Qaida online magazine, Inspire, which is constantly urging its readers to undertake attacks, rather than wait for training or orders from above.
Inspire, which is the work of al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsular (AQAP), has been causing concern since it was first published in 2010; the latest edition has just been published and is said to include an "Open Source Jihad (OSJ) section … for aspiring jihadists seeking to assassinate US and European leaders".
Though some academics have doubted whether Inspire is such a powerful tool, there is evidence that people inclined to commit violence have been tipped into action by such entreaties.
Some of the biggest counter terror operations of recent years have involved suspects who have turned by Inspire.
Three men from Birmingham were convicted this year of plotting the biggest potential terrorist atrocity than the 7 July attacks. They had read the magazine and been influenced by the preachings of Anwar al Awlaki, the now dead former AQAP leader.
Attempts have been made to shut down the magazine, and to disrupt it by cyber warfare. Two years ago MI6 and GCHQ hacked into an article which set out how to make a bomb, and replaced the recipe with one for cupcakes. However, the magazine is still disseminated via internet forums.
Other extremists who have used Awlaki as motivation to mount terror attacks in the UK include Roshonara Choudhry, who attacked the Labour MP Stephen Timms in his constituency surgery.
Choudry, who was jailed for life in 2010, is also said to have named a US-based website as a source of inspiration. In 2007 a group of extremists in Birmingham plotted to behead a British Muslim soldier to undermine the morale of the British army and inhibit its recruitment of Muslims. The leader, Parviz Khan, admitted the plot and was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve at least 14 years.
Though the number of people arrested for terrorist offences have fallen in recent years, the police and MI5 still make arrests, and still uncover plots. "They haven't given up," an official said.
Last year, the Royal United Services Institute [RUSI] thinktank published a report which set out the difficulties now facing counter-terrorism officers; with al-Qaida fragmented and "franchised" across the Arab world and in Africa, identifying suspects was seen as harder than ever.
The report warned: "Though the death of Bin Laden began a succession of counter-terrorist victories in 2011, the threat from Jihadist terrorism has not diminished. If anything, the risk has evolved from plots carried out by organised cells within a leadership structure, to one carried out by lone wolves, radicalised by material on the internet.
"The latter is harder to track down and is potent given the uncertain international situation; where the outcome of the Arab spring has not been settled, and where there are frequent returns of British citizens from war zones such as Somalia and Yemen."
The institute noted the arrival home of self-radicalised fighters would coincide with the steady release from prison of people convicted of terrorist offences in Britain over the last decade. It says their sentences, for good legal reasons, typically have not been very long.
Michael Clarke, the director of RUSI, said: "More experienced lone-wolf terrorists are likely to be returning to Britain in the next couple of years, not from training camps in Pakistan and via airports in Karachi and Dubai, but from wars in Somalia, Yemen, or Nigeria, from the renewed violence in Iraq, and from destinations and via routes that will be far more difficult for security services to monitor."
