A man believed to be soldier has been beheaded in an attack on a street
outside Woolwich barracks in South East London. Prime Minster David
Cameron has cut short a trip to Paris over what is being treated as a
terrorist attack
A
man believed to be soldier has been beheaded in a barbaric attack by
two men on a street outside Woolwich army barracks in South East London.
In the shocking scene, one the killers addressed witnesses saying "you
will never be safe".
ITV news, which has shocking footage of one of the attackers
running down the road carrying a knife in blood soaked hands has
also reported that one of the men said to astonished bystanders who
witnessed the attack:
“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."
An eyewitness who got off a bus just as the incident happened told
how as he filmed the incident, one of the assailants approached.
The man was carrying a machete and a gun in Woolwich, south east London.
The eyewitness said that he gave the gun to his friend,
and said: "I just want to talk to you with your camera". He went on
to say they had carried out the attack "because David Cameron, (the)
British government sent troops in Arabic country".
They wanted to give a message to the British government. That's what they say to me when they were talking to my camera - Eyewtiness
"They wanted to give a message to the British
government," the witness said. "That's what they say to me when they
were talking to my camera."
He said he was surprised that they did not try to make a
quick escape: "They do this publicly to give it some message...
They didn't go anywhere. Most of the time, when you see the crime,
the person starts running becasue they dont want to be arrested."
He also described how as the attack on John Wilson
Street happened, two women shouted "stop it, stop it", and the
attackers apologised, saying women shouldn't be allowed to see what was
happening - only men.
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One of the witness to the tragedy, called James and who was one
of the first people to call the police, told LBC radio, that
initially they thought the two men were trying to help the one who
was on the ground.
"We thought the two guys were helping him. We then saw two
kitchen knives like you would find in a butchers shop, they were
hacking at this poor guy literally. We thought they were trying to
remove organs or something. One of the black guys then shouted to
me and my partner to get in the car. I then moved the car down the
road and dialed 999."
James continued that they there was no way a human could take
what they did to him. They then dragged the dead man into the
middle of the road and then stood on the pavement waving the gun
about, as if they were proud of what they had done.
He said that some women bystanders were trying to shield the
dead man from further attacks and that the men could have killed
them if they had wanted to.
James continued that the attackers had the opportunity to run
away if they had wanted but they were apparently waiting for
something
. When the police turned up it was apparent why as
both men went charging towards them.
Armed police who responded to the incident have reportedly shot
and injured the attackers, one of them seriously.
Officers were called to the area at around 2:20 pm and the
surrounding area has been cordoned off by police.
The incident happened next to Woolwhich barracks but the
Ministry of Defense has not yet confirmed whether the dead man was
in fact a soldier.
A spokesman from Scotland Yard said,
“Officers have responded
to an incident in John Wilson Street at 2:20 pm today. We believe
at this stage that officers were called to reports of an
assault."
The London Air Ambulance also confirmed that a doctor and a
paramedic were sent to the scene at 14:27 pm.
A Muslim resident told Reuters that "this has nothing to do
with Islam. Its heartbreaking, its heartbreaking."
Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed that he had asked the
Home Secretary Theresa May to chair a meeting of Cobra, the
government’s emergency committee and that she had requested updates
from MI5 and the Metropolitan Police and the government were
treating the incident as suspected terrorist attack.
The Defense Secretary Phillip Hammond and the Mayor of London
Boris Johnson have also arrived at the Cobra meeting.
The meeting lasted just under an hour and heard that security
has been tightened at Woolwich barracks and increased at all London
barracks, Downing Street said, the Mirror reports.
Cameron said at a press conference with French President
Francoise Hollande that there were
"strong indications that it
is a terrorist incident."
Roy Ramm, a former Scotland Yard commander of specialist
operations, told the BBC News Channel that the police will be
looking into the background of the two men in custody to try and
determine if they were part of an organized network or acting
alone.
The mayor of London Boris Johnson said that security has been
stepped up at military installations across the country and that
London's "incredibly resilient" communities had been here before
and would pull together.
