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Terror attack on Parliament of United Kingdom

Terror returned to the streets of London on Wednesday when an assailant armed with two long knives drove his car through a crowd of people on Westminster Bridge before stabbing a police officer to death on the grounds of Parliament. Five people died in all, including the attacker himself, in the worst terrorist incident to hit the UK since the 7 July 2005 bombings.
Metropolitan Police acting deputy commissioner Mark Rowley said police suspect the attack was an act of “Islamist-related terrorism”. A major counter-terror operation was launched across the capital, Mr Rowley said, though police believe there was only one attacker. “Looking forward, people of London will see extra police officers on our streets, and we could call on the support of military,” he said.
Police said the attacker, who is believed to have acted alone, mounted the pavement of the bridge and mowed down more than a dozen tourists, local workers and police officers before crashing into the Parliament railings. As people ran for their lives, he entered the gates by Westminster Hall and repeatedly stabbed a male police officer. The officer has been identified as PC Keith Palmer, a 48-year-old husband and father with 15 years of service.
The attacker was shot three times after the stabbing by the officer’s colleagues, and later pronounced dead in hospital. Police said two people were killed as the car drove down Westminster Bridge. Forty others were injured in all, including two people who were standing by the railings where the attacker’s black Hyundai came to a stop.
Theresa May chaired a meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee hours later. Ms May described the attack as “sick and depraved”. The Prime Minister praised the “exceptional bravery” of police during the attack and said any attempt to defeat the values that Parliament stands for are “doomed to failure”.
Security sources have described the suspected assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who attacked the officer on foot with a seven-to-eight inch knife. Images have emerged of a man dressed in black, believed to be the suspect, being treated on a stretcher within Parliament grounds. A knife could be seen lying on the ground nearby.
Tobias Ellwood MP, a foreign minister, was one of the first to arrive on the scene and provided first aid to the police officer, who has not been named while the force offers support to his family. The minister was pictured, his face bloodied, as he gave up efforts to provide CPR and a sheet was placed over the officer’s body.
The attack began at around 2.40pm and proceedings in the House of Commons were immediately suspended. Deputy speaker David Lidington announced to the House that a police officer had been stabbed and the “alleged assailant shot by armed police”.
Witnesses, including members of The Independent’s lobby staff, said the police officer fell to the ground clutching his arm or shoulder after he was stabbed, and was seen wounded but moving in the moments afterwards.
Witness Rick Longley said he saw the car crash into the Parliament railings, as well as the subsequent stabbing. “We were just walking up to the station and there was a loud bang and a guy, someone, crashed a car and took some pedestrians out,” he said. “They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben. A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman. I have never seen anything like that. I just can’t believe what I just saw.”
A man, believed to be the assailant, then tried to run towards the exit of New Palace Yard, underneath Big Ben. Police were seen shouting at him, presumably to stop. Shots were then heard. Dozens of police, many armed, ran around the gate of parliament in the moments after the shots were fired.
Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, thanked the emergency services and praised “their bravery, their courage and their professionalism”. She said: “The government’s top priority is the security of its people and I urge everyone to remain calm but to be vigilant and if they see anything they are concerned about they should report it to the police. We have the best police, the best security services in the world and we must make sure that we let them get on with doing their job. The British people will be united in working together to defeat those who would harm our shared values. Values of democracy, tolerance and the rule of law. Values symbolised by the Houses of Parliament. Values that will never be destroyed.”
Theresa May had still been on the parliamentary estate following Prime Minister’s Questions when the attacker struck. Witnesses saw the Prime Minister being led to her car, a silver Jaguar, with the vehicle about to leave when officers then prevented it from driving into New Palace Yard where the incident occurred. A Downing Street source confirmed Ms May was “OK”.
One woman was pulled from the River Thames after falling or jumping during the incident. She was said to be undergoing urgent medical treatment at a nearby pier after being rescued. A spokesman for the Port of London Authority said the river would be closed from Vauxhall to Embankment “as part the security response”.

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