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‘Barbaric Attack’ in London Prompts Meeting on Terror ‘Barbaric Attack’ in London Prompts Meeting on Terror
(about 4 hours later)
LONDON — In an attack that raised new fears of terrorism in Britain, a man walking on Wednesday near a military barracks in south London was rammed by a car on a sidewalk and was then hacked to death by two assailants wielding a cleaver and a kitchen knife, according to accounts of witnesses and video taken after the attack. Some accounts said the victim had been beheaded. LONDON — In an attack that raised new fears of terrorism in Britain, a man walking near a military barracks in south London on Wednesday was rammed by a car and then hacked to death by two knife-wielding assailants, according to witness accounts carried by British news media.
British officials did not identify him by name, but the French president, François Hollande, referred to the victim as “a soldier” in expressing France’s sympathy to the visiting British prime minister, David Cameron, who was in Paris when the attack took place. British officials did not identify the victim, but the French president, François Hollande, referred to him as “a soldier” in expressing France’s sympathy to the visiting British prime minister, David Cameron, who had been en route to Paris from Brussels when the attack took place.
The two suspects were shot and wounded by armed police, officials said, and were in the hospital under police guard. One suspect was described as being in serious condition. One of the men shouted “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great,” as the attack proceeded, government officials said. The two suspects were shot and wounded by the police, officials said, and were in a hospital under police guard, one in serious condition. One of the men shouted “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great,” as the attack proceeded, government officials said.
Mr. Cameron, who interrupted a European tour to return to London on Wednesday night, said at a news conference at the Élysée Palace in Paris that the killing was “an appalling murder” and “absolutely sickening.” Mr. Cameron, at a news conference at the Élysée Palace in Paris, said the killing was “an appalling murder” and “absolutely sickening.”
“There are strong indications that it is a terrorist incident,” Mr. Cameron said. “There are strong indications that it is a terrorist incident,” Mr. Cameron added. He interrupted his European tour to return to London on Wednesday night.
ITV News showed a video clip taken with a cellphone in which a man who appeared to be in his 20s or early 30s, holding a cleaver and knife with bloodied hands, offered what appeared to be a political message before the police arrived. ITV News showed a video clip taken with a cellphone at the scene in Woolwich in which a man who appears to be in his 20s or early 30s, holding a cleaver in one of his bloodied hands, offers what seemed to be a political message before the police arrived.
“I am sorry that women and children should have to see this,” the man said. He then referred to what appeared to be a motive for the attack, saying that it had been carried out “because of what’s going on in our own countries.” That phrase has been used by militants to refer to conflicts in countries including Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. “I apologize that women had to see this today, but in our lands women have to see the same thing,” he says. “You people will never be safe. Remove your governments! They don’t care about you.”
The assault took place on a busy suburban street in Woolwich, the site of one of the main military barracks in London. A neighborhood primary school is nearby, and witnesses said that some of those who saw the attack were parents and children returning home from the school. He then refers to what appeared to be a motive for the attack, saying that it had been carried out “because of what’s going on in our own countries.”
A small blue car involved in the ramming of the victim appeared to have collided with a telephone pole afterward. It was visible in photographs and television coverage of the scene, with extensive damage to its hood and front window. Organizations representing Britain’s 2.5 million Muslims were quick to condemn the attack. “No cause justifies this murder,” the Muslim Council of Britain said in a statement on behalf of the network of mosques, schools and charities it represents. It described the killing in Woolwich as “a barbaric act that has no basis in Islam,” and added that the “vast majority of British Muslims acknowledge the armed forces for the work they do.”
Witnesses said they saw two men standing with blades over a man lying prone on the sidewalk, beside a wall. Shortly after the attack, these witnesses said, a man with a handgun leapt from an unmarked car and trained his gun on the assailants, shouting to passers-by to clear the area. The assault took place near a heavily-trafficked junction, a short walk from the London headquarters of the Royal Artillery, a unit that has deployed soldiers, including tank units, to Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a primary school nearby, and witnesses said that some of those who saw the attack were parents and children returning home from the school.
With Mr. Cameron in France, the home secretary, Theresa May, called an emergency meeting of the Cobra committee, a group of cabinet ministers and high-level security officials that oversees the operations of police and security agencies at times of high security alerts. Officials said that the group had ordered a tightening of security around all military barracks and other security facilities in Britain, including police stations. A small blue car — apparently the vehicle used to ram the victim — appeared to have hit a telephone pole after mounting the sidewalk. It was visible in photographs and television coverage of the scene, with extensive damage to its hood and front window.
Ms. May described what had happened as a “sickening and barbaric attack.” Witnesses said two men got out of the vehicle and attacked the prone victim with large bladed weapons. Some said they beheaded him.
“It has been confirmed to me that a man has been brutally murdered,” she said after a meeting with the chief of Scotland Yard, Bernard Hogan-Howe, and Andrew Parker, the director general of MI5, the domestic security service. “Two other men were shot by armed police and they are currently receiving treatment for their injuries.” A number said the victim was wearing a T-shirt labeled with the words Help for Heroes, the name of a charity that supports some of the thousands of British military personnel who have returned wounded from Afghanistan and Iraq, and to the families of the more than 600 servicemen and women who have been killed in those conflicts.
In a Twitter post, the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said the attack was a “sickening deluded and unforgivable act of violence.” A man who said he had seen the entire attack told the BBC that the assailants had lingered at the scene, talking to passers-by about what they had done.
Some witnesses said a man leapt from an unmarked car and aimed a handgun on the assailants, shouting to pedestrians to clear the area.
The witness who said he had seen the full attack said that a policewoman with a handgun fired on the two suspects after one of them rushed toward a group of police officers.
Britain is among the countries that have suffered terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists in recent years, and it has worked assiduously to prevent more. Security officials have said that at any given time they are tracking hundreds of young men in extremist networks.
But small-scale attacks can be hard to detect. The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist Web sites, distributed a posting from one on Wednesday, in the wake of the London killing. Dating to July 2011, the message on Shumukh al-Islam, a militant Web site that has been linked to Al Qaeda, urges followers to mount “lone-wolf operations” that might include beheadings.
With Mr. Cameron in France on Wednesday, the home secretary, Theresa May, called an emergency meeting of the Cobra committee, a group of cabinet ministers and high-level security officials that oversees the operations of police and security agencies at times of high security alerts. Officials said that the group had ordered a tightening of security around all military barracks in London.

Stephen Castle contributed reporting.

Stephen Castle contributed reporting.