London attack: Police make further arrests as first victim is named

British police investigating Saturday night’s attacks in London carried out a fresh raid and arrests in the east of the city on Monday morning.

The Metropolitan Police said officers entered two properties in Newham and Barking at 4.15am and “a number” of people have been detained. Searches were continuing at both addresses, police added.

Residents reported hearing “loud flash bangs and gunshots” in the early hours of Monday morning.

Twitter user BatemanLDN said: “It woke me up along with the whole street. Extremely loud bangs followed by gunshot bangs.

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“All ok — very shaken residents nearby though. All quietened down now.”

Simon Tucker wrote: “Heard this in the Dagenham area at around 4:15 am. Started with loud explosion sound. Followed by about 20 shots, Some sounded distant.”

On Sunday, police arrested 12 people following a raid on a flat in Barking occupied by one of the three attackers, who were shot dead by armed police on Saturday night.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility the attacks which killed seven people and wounded dozens.

A statement posted by the militant group’s news agency Amaq on Sunday night claimed that “a detachment of Islamic State fighters” carried out the atrocity.

Campaigning in Britain's general election is to resume Monday after a brief suspension. Labour and the Conservatives traded accusations in the wake of the attack near London Bridge, which was the third major terrorist incident in Britain in three months.

The three attackers were shot dead by officers who fired 50 bullets because they believed they were wearing suicide belts, although the canisters tied around their waists later proved to be hoaxes.

The police won praise for the speed of their response, with all three attackers dead within eight minutes of the first emergency call.

The attack began shortly before 10pm on Saturday when a white van mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge. Three men jumped out of the vehicle, carrying long knives, and went on a rampage through crowded streets nearby, stabbing people at random. Some 21 of the 48 people who were injured were still seriously ill in hospital.

Canadian woman Christine Archibald, who worked with homeless people, and a French national were among those killed.

Elizabeth O’Neill, whose son Daniel (23) is in hospital, told reporters a man ran up to him outside a bar saying: “‘This is for my family, this is for Islam’, and stuck a knife straight in him. He’s got a seven-inch scar going from his belly round to his back.”

Prime minister Theresa May promised tough new policies to combat extremism and harsher sentences for terrorism-related offences. Labour accused the prime minister of politicising the attack, and party leader Jeremy Corbyn criticised her record as home secretary.

Crying wolf

“You cannot protect the public on the cheap. The police and security services must get the resources they need, not 20,000 police cuts. Theresa May was warned by the Police Federation, but she accused them of ‘crying wolf’,” Mr Corbyn said in a speech in Carlisle.

The Labour leader also criticised Ms May for refusing to publish a government report about the funding of jihadist groups, which is believed to focus on the role of Saudi Arabia.

The Home Office admitted last week that the report, which was commissioned in 2015, may never be published because of its “very sensitive” contents.

“We do need to have some difficult conversations starting with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states that have funded and fuelled extremist ideology. It is no good Theresa May suppressing a report into the foreign funding of extremist groups. We have to get serious about cutting off the funding to these terror networks, including Isis here and in the Middle East,” Mr Corbyn said.

The Conservatives rounded on Mr Corbyn, with security minister Ben Wallace accusing the Labour leader of attempting to run away from his record on counterterrorism policy.

“He has boasted about opposing every single counterterror law, opposed the use of shoot-to-kill, and gave cover to the IRA when they bombed and shot our citizens. Voters will judge him on his views and actions in the last 30 years, not his evasive soundbites three days out from polling day.”

Britain will observe a minute’s silence at 11am Monday, and flags will remain at half-mast on government buildings. The political parties agreed, however, that the general election should go ahead on Thursday.

A number of opinion polls over the weekend showed the contest tightening further, with one poll putting the Conservatives just one point ahead of Labour. The Conservatives are ahead in all polls, however, and one puts the party 12 points ahead of Labour.