British Police Name Third London Bridge Attacker

British Police Name Third London Bridge Attacker

Prime Minister says Police and Security Services will come under review as first London Bridge victims are also named

By Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net)

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM (ANS -- June 6, 2017) -- The third London Bridge attacker in the June 3 act of terror has been named as 22-year-old Youssef Zaghba, a Moroccan-Italian man, according to a BBC report.

Pakistan-born Khuram Butt, 27, and Rachid Redouane, 30, both from Barking in east London, were the other two attackers.

Also, two more victims have been named -- Australian nurse Kirsty Boden, 28, and French national Alexandre Pigeard, 27 -- died in Saturday night's attack. They were among seven people killed -- 48 were also injured, before the three attackers were shot dead by police.

Zaghba, Butt and Redouane drove a hired white transit van into pedestrians on London Bridge at 9:58 p.m. BST before stabbing people in the area around Borough Market. Armed officers killed all three within eight minutes of receiving a 999 emergency call.

The Metropolitan Police said Butt had been subject to an investigation in 2015, but there had been no suggestion this attack was being planned. The so-called Islamic State (IS) group has said its "fighters" carried out the attack.

An Italian police source has confirmed to the BBC that Zaghba, who lived in east London, had been placed on a watch list, which is shared with many countries including the UK. The BBC said that in March 2016, Italian officers stopped Zaghba at Bologna airport and found IS-related materials on his mobile phone. He was then stopped from continuing his journey to Istanbul.

According to the BBC, at any one time there are about 500 active counter-terrorism investigations concerning 3,000 people of interest in the United Kingdom.

In other developments:

* Prime Minister Theresa May says she expects a review will be launched by the police and security services following the attack, amid an election row over police numbers.

* The Metropolitan Police said a 27-year-old man had been arrested in Barking on Tuesday in connection with the investigation.

* A property in Ilford, east London, was also searched by police, but no arrests had been made, the Met said.

* A man was arrested in Limerick, Ireland, on Tuesday over the discovery of ID documents in Redouane's name. He was later released without charge.

* A second man, who is in his 30s, was arrested on Tuesday evening, with the Garda (the national police of the Republic of Ireland) saying it was also related to Redouane. He is being held in Wexford.

* The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited injured members of the public at the Royal London Hospital.

* NHS (National Health Service) England said 32 people remained in hospital, with 15 in a critical condition.

* A national one-minute silence was held Tuesday in the UK in memory of those who were killed.

* All 12 people arrested on Sunday after the attack have now been released without charge.

Photo captions: 1) Youssef  Zaghba (BBC photo) 2) The first three victims have been named. They are James McMullan, Chrissy Archibald, and Kirsty Boden. (BBC photo) 3) Michael Ireland.

About the Writer: Michael Ireland is a volunteer internet journalist serving as Chief Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, as well as an Ordained Minister who has served with ASSIST Ministries and written for ANS since its beginning in 1989. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China, and Russia. Please consider helping Michael cover his expenses in bringing news of the Persecuted Church, by logging-on to: https://actintl.givingfuel.com/ireland-michael

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