Woolwich London terror attack?

[Peter Lemkin]

Terror at Woolwich barracks: Attacker tried to behead and disembowel British soldier

ITV shows shocking footage as PM asks Home Secretary to chair meeting of Cobra, the Government's emergency committee

KIM SENGUPTA , PAUL PEACHEY , SANCHEZ MANNING , NIGEL MORRIS


WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 2013

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The soldier was ambushed by two men as he left the base in Woolwich, south-east London, who attacked him and then dragged his body into the middle of the road to pose for photographs while standing over him waving a machete and a gun, according to witnesses.
David Cameron is cutting short a meeting with European leaders to chair a meeting of the emergency committee Cobra tomorrow as police and security services investigate whether the two men later shot and wounded by police - were working alone or part of a bigger group.
"It's the most appalling crime," he told reporters in Paris. "We are obviously urgently seeking the full facts but there are strong indications that it's a terrorist incident."
He said that they were looking at every aspect of security for troops across Britain, but he added: "The best way to defeat terrorism is to make sure you continue to live your life and make sure that terrorism never wins."
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "This afternoon's attack in Woolwich is a sickening, deluded and unforgiveable act of violence."
One of the suspected killers, who handed his gun to his alleged accomplice to address an onlooker with a camera, said the pair had carried out the attack "because David Cameron, British government sent troops in Arabic country".
As onlookers stood close by the armed men, he went on: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you," according to footage obtained by ITV News.
With his hands bloodied and carrying a cleaver, he told the bystander with a camera: "I apologise that women had to witness this today but in our lands our women have to see the same. You people will never be safe. Remove your governments they don't care about you."
The man, who spoke English without a foreign accent, then saunters back across the road to his victim lying in the street to join his apparent accomplice.
The two men made no attempt to escape and then charged a police car carrying an armed police team when it arrived at the scene about 15 minutes after the killing, according to a witness.
"The black guy ran at them with a meat cleaver before it stopped and he was right by the car when they shot him," said Julia Wilders, 51, who lived close by. The second man, who had a gun, was also shot, she said.
The men were taken to separate hospitals by air ambulance and ambulance last night but they were expected to survive their injuries, according to police.
The men were believed to have waited outside the Woolwich barracks of the 2nd Battalion Princess of Wales Royal Regiment, which has deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, where one of its members, Sergeant Johnson Beharry, won the VC.
The Independent understands the dead soldier who was wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt - was a member of another regiment, currently based overseas.
Witnesses suggested that he left the barracks on foot when he was attacked in an apparently pre-arranged ambush. Witness Graham Wilders said it appeared the men had been rammed by a car and was attacked while he was propped up against a wall of a block of flats.
One witness, identified as James, said he and his partner saw two black men attack a young man aged around 20 in a Help for Heroes T-shirt with kitchen knives like he was "a piece of meat".
"They were hacking at this poor guy, literally," one witness called James told LBC Radio, who said that a group of brave women were trying to shield the soldier from the two men.
"They were hacking at him, chopping him, cutting him. These two guys were crazed. They were just animals. They dragged him from the pavement and dumped his body in the middle of the road and left his body there."
Children returning from a trip returned to nearby Mulgrave Primary School and were kept locked inside while the operation played out.
Islamists had threatened a number of times to behead a British soldier in retaliation for involvement in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Six years ago a group of British Pakistanis based in Birmingham were convicted of plotting such an attack and their leader, Parviz Khan, received a life sentence.
He admitted planning to lure the soldier off the streets then film his beheading. He was described in court as having the "most violent and extreme Islamist views" and his aim was to deter any Muslim from joining the British Army.
Home Secretary Theresa May is chairing a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee after briefings from Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe and the Director General of the Security Service, Andrew Parker.
Although there has as yet been no official confirmation, Whitehall sources indicated they were working on the assumption that the murder was terrorist-related.
"It has been confirmed to me that a man has been brutally murdered this afternoon in south-east London. Two other men were shot by armed police and they are currently receiving treatment for their injuries….This is a sickening and barbaric attack," Mrs May said.
Police had set up a series of cordons around the scene last night with extra police patrols in the area and helicopters crossing the skies overhead. The Independent Police Complaints Commission said it sent 12 investigators to the scene to investigate the police shooting after reports of at least six shots being fired
.