Who is Khalid Masood, The London Terror Attacker
Who is Khalid Masood, The London Terror Attacker
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LONDON - British authorities have identified the man responsible for Wednesday’s terrorist attack in London as 52-year-old Khalid Masood. Originally from Kent, he had been living in Birmingham, Britain’s second-largest city, where neighbours said Thursday they had last seen him several months ago.
Marjoli Gajecka (26), frequently visited her mother’s house next to Masood’s apartment.
“I immediately recognised him when I saw the photo of him lying on an ambulance stretcher,” said Gajecka, referring to a photo that had circulated on social media and purportedly showed the attacker.
Masood was fatally shot by police after a vehicle and knife rampage near Parliament in London that left three people dead and at least 29 wounded.
UK police arrest eight people after ‘depraved’ terror attack in London
“They were just an ordinary family. I would never have assumed that he was in any way related to terrorist activity,” she said. According to Gajecka, Masood lived in Birmingham with a wife and at least two children - one girl and one boy. He was sometimes seen in his garden, playing with his children, Gajecka and other former neighbours said.
One man living in a house across the street, who declined to be identified because he did not want to be associated with Masood’s name, said he had assumed that the apartment was empty for years because he had never seen anyone walk in or out of it.
Authorities searched the apartment after being contacted by Enterprise, a rental car company.
“An employee identified the vehicle after seeing the licence plate in an image online. We ran another check to verify, and immediately contacted the authorities,” company spokesman John Davies told Reuterts news agency.
The license plate of the car used in the attack belonged to a Hyundai, rented in Birmingham on March 16 at Enterprise’s Springhill Branch, according to the London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College. Its researchers used open-source methodology to track down the car’s registration and to verify the renter’s identity within two hours after the attack.
Authorities neither confirmed the address of his apartment nor details about the rental car on Thursday.
In a statement, police said that Masood was also known by other aliases. London’s Metropolitan Police Service, known as Scotland Yard, confirmed that Masood “was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack.”
Police said Masood was born in Kent, south-east England, and had been living in the West Midlands. He had a history of relatively minor convictions, including violence and possession of a knife, between 1983 and 2003, but had never been convicted of terrorism. Questions remain over how a small-time criminal became radicalised and carried out what was the worst terrorist attack on British soil since 2005.
![Who is Khalid Masood, The London Terror Attacker]()
Eight people were arrested as police raided addresses in Birmingham, London, and Wales, in an operation involving hundreds of detectives. The focus is now likely to turn to whether anything could have been done to prevent the attack. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the attack shows the need to keep co-operating on security with allies in Europe and further afield, even after Britain pulls out of the European Union.
“Other major cities across the western world have been the targets of evil and twisted individuals trying to destroy our way of life and attack our shared values and we’re not going to let them succeed,” Khan said. “The reality is only by co-operating with all, by working closer together can we ensure that our citizens are kept safe.”
With Masood’s motives and route to radicalisation still unclear, the government defended the security services over suggestions they should have identified him as a threat. Classifying the attack as an intelligence failure “would be absolutely the wrong judgement to make,” Home Secretary Amber Rudd told to BBC television.
“I think we have to careful before we point any finger of blame at the intelligence services.”
Before Masood’s name was officially released, British Prime Minister Theresa May said the attacker was once investigated for possible extremist links but was “not part of the current intelligence picture.”
![Who is Khalid Masood, The London Terror Attacker]()
May did not name the assailant in her remarks, but she offered new details about past scrutiny by authorities, who said the London attack was “inspired by international terrorism.”
In its statement, Scotland Yard confirmed that Masood was known to police because of previous convictions for assaults, public order offenses and possession of offensive weapons. He was last convicted in 2003, for possession of a knife.
Marjoli Gajecka (26), frequently visited her mother’s house next to Masood’s apartment.
“I immediately recognised him when I saw the photo of him lying on an ambulance stretcher,” said Gajecka, referring to a photo that had circulated on social media and purportedly showed the attacker.
Masood was fatally shot by police after a vehicle and knife rampage near Parliament in London that left three people dead and at least 29 wounded.
UK police arrest eight people after ‘depraved’ terror attack in London
“They were just an ordinary family. I would never have assumed that he was in any way related to terrorist activity,” she said. According to Gajecka, Masood lived in Birmingham with a wife and at least two children - one girl and one boy. He was sometimes seen in his garden, playing with his children, Gajecka and other former neighbours said.
One man living in a house across the street, who declined to be identified because he did not want to be associated with Masood’s name, said he had assumed that the apartment was empty for years because he had never seen anyone walk in or out of it.
Authorities searched the apartment after being contacted by Enterprise, a rental car company.
“An employee identified the vehicle after seeing the licence plate in an image online. We ran another check to verify, and immediately contacted the authorities,” company spokesman John Davies told Reuterts news agency.
The license plate of the car used in the attack belonged to a Hyundai, rented in Birmingham on March 16 at Enterprise’s Springhill Branch, according to the London-based International Center for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College. Its researchers used open-source methodology to track down the car’s registration and to verify the renter’s identity within two hours after the attack.
Authorities neither confirmed the address of his apartment nor details about the rental car on Thursday.
In a statement, police said that Masood was also known by other aliases. London’s Metropolitan Police Service, known as Scotland Yard, confirmed that Masood “was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack.”
Police said Masood was born in Kent, south-east England, and had been living in the West Midlands. He had a history of relatively minor convictions, including violence and possession of a knife, between 1983 and 2003, but had never been convicted of terrorism. Questions remain over how a small-time criminal became radicalised and carried out what was the worst terrorist attack on British soil since 2005.
Eight people were arrested as police raided addresses in Birmingham, London, and Wales, in an operation involving hundreds of detectives. The focus is now likely to turn to whether anything could have been done to prevent the attack. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the attack shows the need to keep co-operating on security with allies in Europe and further afield, even after Britain pulls out of the European Union.
“Other major cities across the western world have been the targets of evil and twisted individuals trying to destroy our way of life and attack our shared values and we’re not going to let them succeed,” Khan said. “The reality is only by co-operating with all, by working closer together can we ensure that our citizens are kept safe.”
With Masood’s motives and route to radicalisation still unclear, the government defended the security services over suggestions they should have identified him as a threat. Classifying the attack as an intelligence failure “would be absolutely the wrong judgement to make,” Home Secretary Amber Rudd told to BBC television.
“I think we have to careful before we point any finger of blame at the intelligence services.”
Before Masood’s name was officially released, British Prime Minister Theresa May said the attacker was once investigated for possible extremist links but was “not part of the current intelligence picture.”
May did not name the assailant in her remarks, but she offered new details about past scrutiny by authorities, who said the London attack was “inspired by international terrorism.”
In its statement, Scotland Yard confirmed that Masood was known to police because of previous convictions for assaults, public order offenses and possession of offensive weapons. He was last convicted in 2003, for possession of a knife.
(rnz)
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