Breaking: Pedestrians mowed down, stabbed in London by jihadists

London police have confirmed three terror “incidents” in the city center: a vehicle collision with pedestrians on London Bridge, reported stabbings at the Borough Market and a third attack in Vauxhall. This morning at dawn, a large area on the south bank of the River Thames remained cordoned off. Trains are not stopping at London Bridge station.

Seven people have been killed and at least 48 have been wounded following the stabbing attack. Four explosions were heard near London Bridge after the rampage, according to the British tabloid, The Sun.

It is the third terror attack in the UK in three months following the car and knife attack in Westminster in March, which left five people dead, and the Manchester bombing less than two weeks ago, in which 22 people were killed.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s foreign minister, said four French victims were injured in the London Bridge attack, one of them seriously.

Fifty armed police were seen entering Monument station in London with sniffer dogs and bystanders were told to run last night. Bank and Monument tube stations have been closed. There were also unconfirmed reports of gunfire on Southwark Street.

Five jihadi terrorists went on a rampage around two locations in central London. While a knife gang were attacking people, terrorists driving a white van, mowed down up to 20 people on London Bridge on Saturday night.

Jihadists stormed several busy pubs and restaurants. A “dark-skinned” man reportedly “calmly” stabbed his innocent male victim three times, a witness told the Daily Mail.

One pub had hastily locked its doors to keep out the gang of stabbers who had tried to smash their way into the establishment.

Assistant Commissioner of Met Police Mark Rowley confirmed that three terrorists were shot and killed outside the Wheatsheaf pub in Borough Market. The three were gunned down by law enforcement. A search is underway for other suspects. One man was arrested on Borough High Street.

Rowley said it was believed the explosive vests they were wearing were “hoaxes”. The Daily Mail described the knife attackers as being “of Mediterranean origin” and reported that they had shouted “this is for Allah”.

One of the casualties is reportedly a police officer. Another witness told the BBC: “They were running up shouting, ‘This is for Allah’. They stabbed this girl maybe 10 times, 15 times. She was going, ‘Help me, help me’.”

David Davis, the Brexit secretary, told BBC News it would be wrong to postpone the general election. He added he was “not sure that it can be legally done”.

Citing the example of Spain and the Madrid bombing, he said other European countries have gone ahead with elections shortly after a terrorist attack.

Paul Nuttall, UKIP leader, has refused to suspend his campaigning because he believes that is what terrorists would want.

The attack came only minutes after the end of the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus, in an area of London with many bars where thousands of fans had been watching the match on television.

There is a provision in British law for a general election to be delayed for a fortnight, but it currently only applies in the event of the monarch dying between the dissolution of parliament and polling day.

London’s Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan told the BBC the capital remained the “safest global city” and Londoners would not be cowed by terrorism.

Since 2013 security services in the UK say they have foiled 18 plots while a large proportion of those have involved suspects who set out to commit acts of violence similar to the attack on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge.

It is the latest in a series of attacks to hit Europe, including in Paris, Berlin, Stockholm and Saint Petersburg. The latest issue of the Islamic State’s weekly newspaper al-Naba released two days ago warned that another terrorist attack in Britain was “definitely coming”.

British authorities are treating the attcks as terrorist incidents. ISIS branded British security and vigilance across cities and towns a “costly, exhausting situation”.

Last month in Rumiyah magazine, which is published in several languages including English, ISIS published instructions for jihadists on how to use a heavy vehicle to kill, how to acquire a vehicle and which targets to strike, PJ Media reported.

“The ideal vehicle,” said ISIS, has a “slightly raised chassis and bumper,” is a “double-wheeled, load-bearing truck” that “large in size, heavy in weight” and is “fast in speed or rate of acceleration”.