London terror attack: 'Bangs and gunshots' as terror police swoop
A number of people are detained in fresh raids in east London as police say they have identified the three attackers.
Monday 5 June 2017 18:44, UK
Residents have reported hearing "loud flash bangs and gunshots" as police carried out further raids in east London following the terror attack in the capital.
Police said "a number" of people have been detained and searches were continuing at the three addresses in Dagenham and Barking.
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Twitter user BatemanLDN said: "It woke me up along with the whole street. Extremely loud bangs followed by gunshot bangs."
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."
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It comes after seven women and five men, aged between 19 and 60, were arrested under the Terrorism Act on Sunday following raids on flats in Barking and East Ham. A 55-year-old man was later released without charge.
Security sources in Dublin said on Monday one of the attackers was carrying an identity card issued in Ireland.
Several residents at the Elizabeth Fry flats in Barking, where a number of the arrests were made, said they recognised one of the suspected attackers from a photograph.
They said he had children and had lived in the area for a number of years.
One neighbour told Sky News the suspect was "a very affable person" who was "very much a member of the community" and "always pleasant to our family".
Islamic State has said "a detachment" of its fighters were behind the attack which killed seven people.
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Witnesses to Saturday night's attack said terrorists deliberately drove into pedestrians on London Bridge shortly after 10pm - in the same way as Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood.
After abandoning the van, the three men headed on foot to Borough Market where the pubs and restaurants were packed with Saturday night crowds, and attacked people with 12-inch knives.
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The three men, wearing fake suicide bomb vests, were shot dead by eight officers outside a pub after police opened fire with an "unprecedented" hail of 50 bullets, while a bystander was also shot.
Two of the attackers have been named as .
Tales of heroism emerged in the aftermath, with one British Transport Police officer taking on the trio armed only with his baton before being stabbed in the head, face and leg.
An off-duty Metropolitan Police officer was also injured after he tackled the men while unarmed.
Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick , who is in a serious condition in hospital, as "utterly heroic".
Two on duty Met officers from Southwark were also injured during the attack. A plain clothes officer suffered a head wound and a uniformed officer received an injury to his arm.
Speaking after an emergency meeting of the Government's Cobra committee, Prime Minister Theresa May said: "This was an attack on London and the United Kingdom but it was also an attack on the free world."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "The acts of these three men on Saturday night was cowardly, and was evil. And I'm angry and furious that these three men are seeking to justify their actions by using the faith that I belong to."
Six of the seven who lost their lives were pronounced dead at the scene.