Analyst group: IS claims London attack
LONDON, England (AP) — The SITE Intelligence Group says Islamic State’s news agency is claiming fighters for the extremist group carried out the van and knife attack in London that left seven people dead.
SITE said in a statement Sunday that the Islamic State’s Aamaq news service cited “a security source” in the Arabic-language posting claiming the attack.Islamic State has often made such claims not just when it has sent attackers, but when extremists carrying out deadly plots were inspired by the group’s ideology.It’s the third attack this year that Islamic State has claimed in Britain, after the bombing in Manchester and a similar attack in the heart of London in March.The three attackers in Saturday’s attack have not been identified.The city of London is convening a public vigil for the seven people killed in the van and knife attack on London Bridge and at nearby restaurants.A statement from Mayor Sadiq Khan’s office said the vigil will be held at 6 p.m. local time on Monday at Potters Fields Park, an open space which surrounds City Hall on the River Thames near Tower Bridge.The mayor’s office says the gathering is an opportunity for Londoners and visitors “to come together in solidarity to remember those who have lost their lives in Saturday’s attack, to express sympathy with their families and loved ones and to show the world that we stand united in the face of those who seek to harm us and our way of life.”Participants also will be invited to place flowers by the flagpoles outside City Hall.The invitation issued by Khan’s office says the vigil also is meant to show “We will never let these cowards win and we will never be cowed by terrorism.”France’s foreign minister has announced that a French citizen was among those killed in the London attacks and that another remains missing.Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday that seven other French nationals are hospitalized, four of them in serious condition.French officials had earlier said that four French were injured in the Saturday attacks on London Bridge and at nearby restaurants and pubs. Le Drian revised the count upward hours later.The minister tweeted that he was traveling to London on Monday.