A man has been arrested by armed police near an entrance to the Houses of Parliament.

Armed cops used a stun gun to restrain a man inside the grounds of parliament in Westminster on Tuesday, a Reuters photographer who witnessed the incident said.

The photographer said police shouted: "Stop. Get down."

The man could be seen being held against a fence inside the Carriage Gates entrance to the Houses of Parliament.

Around a dozen police officers were inside the gates with the man.

The man was later handcuffed as police pointed a gun at the man's head.

A clear plastic bag containing a pair of trainers could be seen on the ground nearby.

A spokesperson for the House of Commons said: "We are aware of a situation outside the Palace of Westminster that was handled by the Met Police and is now over. We cannot provide any further details."

In March 2017, Khalid Masood killed four people on nearby Westminster Bridge and stabbed an unarmed police officer to death near Carriage Gates before being shot dead.

In August, a man was arrested after driving a car into pedestrians and cyclists before ramming into barriers outside the parliament building in what police said appeared to be a terrorism attack. </s> A man has been tasered by police inside the Palace of Westminster . Journalists tweeting from the scene described a heavy police presence and a man being “pinned to the ground” inside Carriage Gates, where an attacker in 2017 broke into Parliament before killing P Keith Palmer. Reuters pictures showed armed police using a stun gun on the man on the cobbled forecourt inside the British parliament’s main Carriage Gates.

The man was later handcuffed as police pointed a gun at the man’s head and could later be seen being held against a fence inside the entrance to the Houses of Parliament.

In a statement, the Met Police said a man had been arrested on “suspicion of trespassing at a protected site”. It is not thought to be terror related. Police were deployed to St Stephen’s courtyard to secure the area and redirect staff elsewhere on the estate. The Commons Press Office later tweeted saying the situation was now over.

Last March Khalid Masood drove a 4x4 down Westminster Bridge, hitting pedestrians before crashing outside the Houses of Parliament and stabbing two police officers around the same area as today’s incident. In August, a man was arrested after driving a car into pedestrians and cyclists before ramming into barriers outside the parliament building in what police said appeared to be a terrorism attack. Since the attacks, security at the site has been beefed up, with a permanent armed presence at the entrance.

Tory MP Penny Mordaunt tweeted in praise of the police, saying she was “always in awe at [their] professionalism, courage and dedication”. </s> Westminster attack: Police officer among four dead in terror attack

Westminster attack: Police officer among four dead in terror attack

Four people are dead after a knifeman ploughed a car into crowds outside the Houses of Parliament then stabbed a police officer in a major terror attack.

Among the four killed were the policeman, two pedestrians and the attacker, who was shot by armed officers.

Twenty people were hurt, some suffering "catastrophic" injuries, when terror struck at the heart of Westminster this afternoon.

Gunshots and panic caught on camera

Witnesses described hearing people screaming and seeing bodies scatter as the car mounted the pavement and crashed into railings just in front of the Houses of Parliament.

The attacker then ran from the car armed with two knifes and and stabbed two police officers before being shot by armed police.

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Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley confirmed one of the officers had died in the attack along with three other people, one of them the attacker.

Police update on Westminster terror attack

The man, described as Asian and in his 40s, was pictured on a stretcher after medics had attempted to save his life.

Foreign minister Tobias Ellwood had fought in vain to keep the officer alive by giving him mouth-to-mouth on the cobbled courtyard area in front of the Houses of Parliament.

Among those injured by the car on Westminster Bridge were three police officers on their way back from a commendation ceremony and three teenage students on a trip to London from France.

Image: The Westminster attacker being tended by medics

Parliament was immediately shut down and suspended for the day, and the Prime Minister bundled into a car as officers searched the building, evacuating floors one by one.

Among those led to safety from the building were a group of primary school children who had been on a sightseeing trip.

Bomb squad officers were called in to deal with a suspicious package found in a vehicle.

Westminster attack: Eyewitnesses recall the horror

Sightseers on the London Eye were held inside the viewing pods.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley said they believe there was only one attacker but there was a "full-scale" counter terrorist investigation under way.

He moved to reassure the public, saying that extra police officers, both armed and unarmed, would be patrolling the streets in the coming days.

Image: A map showing what happened in the Westminster terror attack

He said: "This is a day we plan for but hoped would never happen. Sadly it is now a reality.

"We will continue to do all we can to protect the people of London."

Witnesses described seeing an "Asian guy in his 40s" carrying a knife and running across the bridge and towards the Houses of Parliament.

Alan Parry, of Sky Sports News, was at Westminster for a meeting when he heard "an almighty crash" just outside the underground station.

He said he could see a vehicle on the other side of the road which had crashed into some railings.

He said: "The guy who I assumed was the driver of this 4x4 got out of the car and suddenly sprinted away from the scene - that was followed by four of what sounded much like gunshots.

"All of a sudden all hell was let loose. Police descended everywhere and the whole area was locked down."

Image: The scene on Westminster Bridge following the terror attack Image: London Ambulance Service said paramedics had treated at least 10 patients on the bridge Image: Injured people assisted by passers-by Image: A number of pedestrians were hit by a grey Hyundai i40 Image: Witnesses say they saw the car travelling at high-speed before it crashed Image: Police are treating the incident as a terrorist attack Image: The scene on Westminster Bridge as seen from Parliament Image: An armed police officer runs across the road Image: Paramedics treat an injured person Image: A member of the public is taken away in an ambulance Image: Extra police officers have been deployed in London following the attack Image: Emergency services on the River Thames Image: A paramedic at the scene of the Westminster attack /

Jayne Wilkinson said: "We were taking photos of Big Ben and we saw all the people running towards us, and then there was an Asian guy in about his 40s carrying a knife about seven or eight inches long.

"And then there were three shots fired, and then we crossed the road and looked over. The man was on the floor with blood."

One of the key witnesses to the attack was the Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Craig Mackey. He was unable to make a statement because he was giving vital evidence to officers.

The Government has said it will chair a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee later today.

A 10 Downing Street spokesman said: "The thoughts of the PM and the Government are with those killed and injured in this appalling incident, and with their families.

"The PM is being kept updated and will shortly chair Cobra."

Buckingham Palace declined to comment about its security arrangements but it was clear some precautions had been taken as the gates, patrolled by armed police, had been closed.

MSPs have delayed a vote on a possible second independence referendum in light of the attack. </s> Five people, including a London police officer who was stabbed and the alleged assailant, were killed in a terror attack that saw more 40 people injured outside the Parliament building on Wednesday in an act described as "sick and depraved" by British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Acting Metropolian Police Deputy Commissioner and Head of Counter Terrorism Mark Rowley said there was only one attacker who authorities believe was "inspired by international terrorism."

Flag at half-mast over Scotland Yard tonight to mark the death of our officer & the other victims of this afternoon’s attack in #Westminster pic.twitter.com/NqaGSqJtmt — Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) March 22, 2017

Rowley said three civilians were among those killed. He identified the officer killed in the attack as 48-year-old Keith Palmer.

"One of those who died was a police officer from our Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command who had 15 years service," he said.

UK PARLIAMENT TERROR ATTACK: MURDERED OFFICER NAMED AS PC KEITH PALMER

Rowley said it was "too early" to publiclly release the name of the suspect in the attack, but that officials "think we know who the attacker is and are working to establish who his associates are."

Armed and unarmed patrols have been stepped up as a precaution across the country, according to Rowley.

A full counter-terrorism investigation is underway.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES – PHOTOS FROM LONDON TERROR ATTACK

Police said a vehicle mowed down pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge, leaving more than a dozen with injuries described as catastrophic.

Rowley said the car then crashed near to Parliament, and one man - armed with a knife - continued the attack and tried to enter Parliament.

The knife-wielding attacker stabbed a police officer and was shot on the grounds outside Britain's Parliament, sending the compound into lockdown for hours.

The threat level for international terrorism in the U.K. was already listed at severe, and will remain so, according to May. The attack came on the one-year anniversary of the terror attacks in Brussels in which 32 people were killed and more than 300 injured.

BRUSSELS MARKS 1 YEAR AFTER TERROR ATTACKS, BUT STRUGGLES TO RECOVER

Recent Vehicular Terror Attacks:

•Jerusalem, Israel: 1/8/17

•Berlin, Germany: 12/19/16

•Ohio State: 11/28/16

•Nice, France: 7/14/16 https://t.co/CAaDgAgko7 — Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) March 22, 2017

ISIS claimed responsibility for the coordinated suicide bombings last year -- two at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem and one at Maalbeek metro station in central Brussels. The bombings were the deadliest terror attack in Belgium's history.

UK PARLIAMENT ATTACK: ISIS SYMPATHIZERS CELEBRATING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

ISIS has long promoted the use of vehicles and knives in attacks by so-called "lone wolf" terrorists, particularly in Western countries. Senior U.S. officials expected an uptick of terror attacks in Europe as they ramp up the fight to take ISIS capital Raqqa, Fox News is told.

The terrorist group has not claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack, but a European government official told Reuters that investigators are considering the possibility the attack was inspired by ISIS propaganda.

London police were called to the Parliament building at around 2:40 p.m. local time (10:40 a.m. EST) after reports of a vehicle crashing into a crowd at Westminster Bridge near Britain's parliament.

This is the moment Parliament was suspended as "sounds similar to gunfire" were heard outside pic.twitter.com/to6PPxkNqL — Sky News (@SkyNews) March 22, 2017

The French prime minister said French high school students were among the injured on Wednesday.

Colleen Anderson of St Thomas' Hospital said a woman died after a vehicle apparently hit pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, near Parliament, according to the Press Association.

Anderson said: "There were people across the bridge. There were some with minor injuries, some catastrophic. Some had injuries they could walk away from or who have life-changing injuries."

A woman was also pulled alive from River Thames. The Port of London Authority said the female member of the public was recovered from the river, injured but alive.

NYPD, OTHERS INCREASE SECURITY FOLLOWING 'TERRORIST INCIDENT' OUTSIDE UK PARLIAMENT

Rick Longley told the Press Association that he heard a bang and saw a car plow into pedestrians and come to a crashing stop. Images from the scene showed pedestrians sprawled on the ground, with blood streaming from a woman surrounded by a scattering of postcards.

"They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben," he said. "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."

The former Polish foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski posted a video on Twitter that seems to show people lying injured in the road on Westminster Bridge.

Sikorski, a senior fellow at the Harvard Centre for European Studies, says he saw at least five people lying on the ground after being "mown down" by a car.

Sikorski told the BBC he "heard what I thought what I thought was just a collision and then I looked through the window of the taxi and someone down, obviously in great distress.

"Then I saw a second person down, and I started filming, then I saw three more people down, one of them bleeding profusely."

PRIME MINISTER THERESA MAY RUSHED TO SAFETY AFTER ATTACK OUTSIDE UK PARLIAMENT

Prime Minister Theresa May was rushed to safety after the attack.

"The thoughts of the PM and the government are with those killed and injured in this appalling incident, and with their families," May's office said in a statement.

In a prime-time address to the nation outside 10 Downing Street, May praised the "exceptional bravery" of police, and thanked them and other emergency services "on behalf of the whole country."

May said it was "no accident" the attacker chose Parliament, which stands for democracy, freedom and rule of law.

The White House condemned the attacks, adding that President Trump is continuing to monitor developments out of London.

Spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday Trump spoke with May and said that the White House applauds "the quick response of British police and first responders."

The White House said Trump "pledged the full cooperation and support of the United States Government in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice."

The U.S. State Department said it is closely monitoring the incident and urged Americans in London to avoid the area.

Spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday: "We stand ready to assist in any way the U.K. authorities would find helpful."

He added that the U.S. Embassy in London is closely following the news and stands ready to help any affected Americans.

"Our hearts go out to those affected," Toner said.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the British government's "top priority" is the security of its people, following the attack.

"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," Rudd said in a clip broadcast on Sky News.

"The British people will be united in working together to defeat those who would harm our shared values", says Home Secretary Amber Rudd pic.twitter.com/JnCLbrAdyJ — Sky News (@SkyNews) March 22, 2017

Daily Mail journalist Quentin Letts said he saw a man in black attack a police officer outside Parliament before being shot two or three times as he tried to storm into the House of Commons.

"He had something in his hand, it looked like a stick of some sort, and he was challenged by a couple of policemen in yellow jackets," Letts told the BBC. "And one of the yellow-jacketed policemen fell down and we could see the man in black moving his arm in a way that suggested he was stabbing or striking the yellow-jacketed policeman."

Dennis Burns, who was just entering Parliament for a meeting, told the Press Association he heard a radio message saying an officer had been stabbed. Police and security rushed outside as he was going in.

"When I got inside I was wondering what the hell was going on and I saw dozens of panicked people running down the street," he said. "The first stream was around 30 people and the second stream was 70 people. It looked like they were running for their lives."

UK PARLIAMENT ATTACK IS THE LATEST TERROR SCARE FOR LONDON

British security has thwarted some 13 terror plots over the past four years, but the UK has largely been spared major international terror attacks such as the ones seen in Belgium and France.

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> Knife-wielding terrorists have killed seven people and wounded scores more in a bloody rampage through one of London's busiest nightspots.

At least two Australians were "directly affected", with one taken to hospital, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.

It is Britain's third terror attack since March, and comes just days before the country is due to hold a general election.

The three attackers were shot dead by police, but UK security services are now working urgently to establish if the suspected Islamist militants were part of a bigger terror cell that could soon launch another attack.

Some of the 48 people taken to hospital were still in a critical condition the morning after the attack.

At about 10pm on Saturday, London time, a white van drove south over London Bridge ploughing through pedestrians, leaving up to six bodies lying on the road in its wake.

An eyewitness said he saw the van coming off the bridge at high speed – up to 80kmh – with a dented front and one headlight smashed.

The van crashed outside a pub close to the bridge's southern end, and three men jumped out carrying knives that eyewitnesses said were 10-12 inches long.

They ran through nearby Borough Market to a street with a row of pubs and restaurants, busy with customers on a balmy London summer night.

The attackers ran in and out of buildings slashing and stabbing, apparently indiscriminately.

One eyewitness said they were shouting "this is for Allah".

People fled screaming in panic, while some tried to stop the attackers by throwing bottles, glasses, even chairs.

Patrick, a restaurant worker at Borough Market, told Fairfax he saw three people stabbed in front of him by "crazy" men with knives.

Australian senator Sam Dastyari was metres from the attack, at a restaurant in the area, and heard screaming and saw a young woman covered in blood run past.

They hid upstairs and were eventually evacuated by police.

"There was blood everywhere" on the streets outside, senator Dastyari told Fairfax.

Those injured included an on-duty, unarmed transport police officer who had confronted the attackers and received serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Police received the first call about the attack at 10:08pm, and responded in force.

They told those close to the attack to barricade themselves indoors, and instructed others to run for their lives, along the middle of the road, hands over their heads.

An elite SAS anti-terror unit known as 'Blue Thunder' was also sent to the scene.

The attackers were shot dead just eight minutes after the first call came to police.

The men were wearing vests with metal canisters attached, apparently intended to look like explosives, though they were found to be fakes.

Ambulances took 48 patients to five hospitals across London, and paramedics treated more people at the scene for minor injuries.

The terrorists' method was similar to the Westminster terror attack of March 22, when Khalid Masood drove a hired car into people on Westminster Bridge, before drawing a knife and trying to get into the Houses of Parliament.

However their choice of target recalled the Paris attack of November 2015. The Borough Market area was packed with young people, enjoying London's summer nightlife – similar to the area chosen for the Paris atrocity.

In the aftermath of the attack hundreds of Londoners went to social media to offer refuge and cups of tea to those caught up in the violence.

On Sunday morning the scene was still sealed off as police gathered forensic evidence.

The commissioner of Metropolitan Police Cressida Dick told reporters seven people had died in the attack, in addition to the attackers.

She said police believed they had killed all the attackers, but were continuing to search the scene to make sure everyone was accounted for.

They, along with counter-terrorism and security services, were now working to establish whether anyone else had been working with the attackers, assisting them or helping plan the attack.

It was a large and fast-moving investigation, however she said she could not yet say anything about the identity of the suspects.

She also praised the response of police - both on and off duty - as well as other emergency services and members of the public who rushed to the scene. Many had risked their lives to help others, treat those seriously injured and confront the attackers, she said.

"I am sure they helped to save lives," she said.

Security services were working on Sunday morning to identify the attackers, and establish their network of contacts and communications in the hours, days and weeks before the attack.

Their priority was to establish if they were part of a wider network and if there may be another attack imminent.

A week earlier the UK's terror threat level had lowered to 'severe', meaning an attack was likely, from the 'critical' level it had been at since the Manchester Arena attack. The threat level was to be assessed again on Sunday.

Prime minister Theresa May was due to hold a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee in Whitehall on Sunday, assessing the investigation and the government's response.

There were calls on social media for Thursday's general election to be postponed, and national campaigning has been suspended for at least a day.

However there was a strong sentiment among politicians that they did not want the terror attack to get in the way of democracy.

And Conservative minister David Davis pointed out that parliament is already dissolved and so the June 8 election was "locked in".

"They want to stop us voting on Thursday… we can't allow them to do that, we can't be cowed by terrorism," he said.

Mr Khan said it had been a "deliberate and cowardly attack" aimed at disrupting London's way of life, to stop people mingling, mixing and having a good time.

"There aren't words to describe the grief and anger our city is feeling," he said. "I'm appalled and furious that these cowardly terrorists deliberately targeted innocent Londoners and visitors enjoying their Saturday night. I condemn unequivocally these terrorists in the strongest possible terms. They are evil cowards and London will never be cowed. We will never let them win."

He, along with prime minister Theresa May, praised the fast response of London police, which he said had saved lives.

Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull sent Australia's heartfelt sympathy and love to the victims, their families and the people of Britain.

He revealed that two Australians had been "directly affected" by the attack. One was in hospital, and the other's situation was not known.

"Many" Australians were in the vicinity of the attack, he said.

Foreign minister Julie Bishop has spoken to the parents of both the Australians affected. </s> LONDON: A man deliberately drove a car into London pedestrians and cyclists on Tuesday before ramming it into barriers outside Britain's parliament in what appeared to be the second terrorist attack at the building in just under 18 months, police said.

Three people were injured. The driver, a man in his 20s, was arrested by armed officers moments later. He was not cooperating with detectives, the British police counter-terrorism chief said.

"Given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method, and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident," the officer, London Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, told reporters.

In March 2017, Khalid Masood, 52, killed four people on nearby Westminster Bridge and stabbed an unarmed police officer to death in the grounds of parliament before being shot dead.

It was the first of five attacks in Britain last year that police designated as terrorism, three of which used vehicles as weapons.

Basu said the suspect in Tuesday's incident was in custody but not cooperating. He said the man had not been formally identified but was not believed to be known to security forces.

The BBC, citing unnamed sources, said the man was from the Birmingham area and known to police, although not to intelligence or counter-terrorism agencies.

Basu said there were currently no other suspects from the scene of the incident and no indications of further danger.

Police said a silver Ford Fiesta had driven through a group of cyclists and pedestrians during the morning rush hour before hitting a barrier in front of the Houses of Parliament at 7:37 a.m.(0637 GMT).

Video footage showed the vehicle making an illegal turn before veering across the road and into a security lane leading to parliament before smashing into the protective barrier as two police officers jumped to safety.

The man was detained on suspicion of terrorist offences and no weapons were found, Basu said.

Two people were taken to hospital and one woman was still receiving treatment for serious but not life-threatening injuries.

Armed officers swarmed the scene and sealed off a large area around parliament that is usually bustling with tourists and government workers.

"I saw the cyclists, injured cyclists. I don't know if he's hit these people or if they've just dived to escape," bystander Jason Williams told reporters.

"It didn't swerve, there was not another car going behind him. It looked like it was planned.

" Images shot by a Euronews journalist showed police pointing their guns at the vehicle shortly after the crash. Footage on social media showed a man being led away in handcuffs.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who like other lawmakers is on holiday during parliament's summer recess, urged Britons to remain vigilant but to carry on as normal.

"For the second time in as many years the home of our democracy, which is a potent symbol of our precious values of tolerance and freedom, has just witnessed terrible scenes just yards from its door," she said in a statement.

Britain is on its second-highest threat level, "severe", meaning an attack is considered highly likely.

May's spokesman said that, since Masood's attack in Westminster last year, 13 Islamist and four far-right plots had been foiled.

At the end of June, security services were carrying out 676 live investigations.

Last week, a Muslim convert admitted plotting to kill more than 100 people by driving a truck into pedestrians on London's Oxford Street, the capital's major shopping thoroughfare.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has previously spoken out about security issues in London, tweeted: "These animals are crazy and must be dealt with through toughness and strength".

Cordons around parliament began to be lifted about six hours after the incident and Westminster Underground station, close to parliament, was reopened. However, streets immediately surrounding the scene remained closed off. </s> London police said Wednesday they discovered two improvised explosive devices in an apartment and the counter terrorism command is involved, but officials are “keeping an open mind” about how the devices came to be there.

The report of suspicious devices at an unoccupied apartment in the Craven Park section in Harlesden, northwest London, just after 9:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET) prompted the evacuation of a block of apartments, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement.

An initial assessment determined the devices were IEDs and they were rendered safe, police said. The unoccupied apartment was being refurbished.

“At this early stage, officers are keeping an open mind as to how or why the devices came to be there,” police said.

The United Kingdom is under a threat level for international terrorism of “severe.”

The country has experienced several terror attacks in recent years, including the March of 2017 car-ramming and stabbing attack on Westminster Bridge and near Parliament in which killed five people, including police officer Keith Palmer.

In June of 2017, eight people were killed after three attackers drove a vehicle into pedestrians on the London Bridge and then embarked on a stabbing rampage at a nearby market. The three assailants were killed by police. </s> Seven people have died and at least 20 have been taken to hospital after London was rocked by a terrorist attack last night.

Officers responded to reports of a vehicle ploughing into pedestrians around London Bridge and stabbings at Borough Market shortly after 10pm.

Three attackers, wearing hoax explosive vests, were shot and killed by police.

Transport policeman stabbed as he rushed to help

Shortly after 9:30am on Sunday morning, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the number of victims from the London attack has risen from six to seven.

An on-duty British Transport Police officer received "serious injuries" including head, face and leg wounds, as he responded to calls for help from the public, Scotland Yard said.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said: "We believe three people were involved but we still have some more inquiries to be 100% confident on that."

Police said they had received reports of a vehicle striking pedestrians on London Bridge at around 10pm, which then continued on to Borough Market.

The suspects then left the vehicle and a number of people in the area were stabbed, Scotland Yard said.

Witnesses described seeing a speeding vehicle veer into crowds on London Bridge.

A man called Gerard said he witnessed a series of stabbings by three men near Borough Market.

"They were stabbing everyone. They were running up and going 'This is for Allah'," he told BBC News.

He said he followed the attackers and threw items at them in a bid to stop them.

Alex Shellum, who was in The Mudlark pub, close to London Bridge, said he saw a bleeding woman in her early 20s stagger in.

Barman Alex Martinez was forced to take shelter in a bin when a knifeman stormed El Pastor, the Borough restaurant in which he worked.

He said: "I saw that man with a knife in his hand and after that a man started screaming so I knew something wrong was happening.

"The man started screaming and dropping everything on the floor, the plates, the cutlery, the bottle, everything, he dropped it."

He said he jumped down behind a wall to keep safe.

Mr Rowley added: "At this stage, we believe that six people have died in addition to the three attackers shot dead by police. And at least 20 casualties have been taken to six hospitals across London.

"We are reviewing and planning to strengthen our policing stance across London over the forthcoming days and there will be additional police and officers deployed across the capital.

"We are treating this as a terrorist incident and a full investigation is already under way, led by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command."

Holly Jones, a BBC reporter, was at London Bridge when she saw a van swerve into pedestrians.

"A white van driver came speeding - probably about 50mph - veered off the road into the crowds of people who were walking along the pavement," she told BBC News.

"He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind."

A taxi driver called Chris told LBC he saw men armed with foot-long knives after the van drove on to the pavement.

He told the station: "Then three men got out with long blades, 12 inches long and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random. I saw a young girl stabbed in the chest." </s> LONDON (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Thursday for an attack by a man who plowed an SUV into pedestrians on one of London’s famous bridges and then stabbed a police officer to death at Britain’s Parliament. In a somber but defiant statement, Britain’s prime minister declared that “we are not afraid.”

In a sweeping speech before the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Theresa May said the man who killed three people Wednesday before being shot to death by police was born in Britain and once came under investigation for links to religious extremism.

British officials named the attacker as Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old with criminal convictions who was living in the West Midlands, which includes the central city of Birmingham.

Police raided properties in London and Birmingham, and made eight arrests.

A Utah man visiting London with his wife for their 25th anniversary and a British woman who was a school administrator were killed by the SUV attack on Westminster Bridge and 29 others were hospitalized, seven critically. Others were injured and treated at the scene.

May set an unyielding tone Thursday, saluting the heroism of police as well as the ordinary actions of everyone in the British capital who went about their lives in the aftermath.

“As I speak, millions will be boarding trains and airplanes to travel to London, and to see for themselves the greatest city on Earth,” she told the House of Commons. “It is in these actions – millions of acts of normality – that we find the best response to terrorism. A response that denies our enemies their victory, that refuses to let them win, that shows we will never give in.”

Parliament held a moment of silence Thursday morning to honor the slain officer, Keith Palmer, a 15-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police and a former soldier, as well as the other victims. Then Parliament, which was locked down after the attack, returned to business — a counter to those who had attacked British democracy.

In the 1,000-year-old Westminster Hall, the oldest part of Parliament’s buildings, politicians, journalists and parliamentary staff lined up to sign a book of condolences for the victims. Among them was a uniformed policeman, who wrote: “Keith, my friend, will miss you.”

The rampage was the first deadly incident at Parliament since 1979, when Conservative lawmaker Airey Neave was killed in a car bombing by Irish militants.

Some parliamentarians said they were shaken, and all were somber. But they were also determined.

“There is no such thing as 100 percent security,” said Menzies Campbell, a member of the House of Lords. “We have to learn to live with that.”

May later visited a London hospital to meet victims of Wednesday’s attack and to thank the hospital staff who had helped them.

The London attack echoed even deadlier vehicle rampages in Nice, France, and in Berlin last year that were claimed by the Islamic State group.

IS said Thursday through its Aamaq News Agency that the London attacker was a soldier of the Islamic State who “carried out the operation in response to calls for targeting citizens” of countries fighting IS in Syria and Iraq.

IS militants have been responsible for numerous bloody attacks around the globe, but it has also claimed events later found to have no clear links to the group.

Police believe the London attacker acted alone and there is no reason to believe “imminent further attacks” are planned, May said, adding that he had been investigated before but police believed he was a peripheral figure at the time.

Car rental company Enterprise said the car used in the terror attack was owned by them and was rented in Birmingham.

Labour Party lawmaker Khalid Mahmood, who represents part of Birmingham, condemned the “barbaric attack” and urged his fellow Muslims to report concerns about radicalization to the police.

“We have to condemn this outright,” he said. “There are no ifs or buts. This is a hugely tragic incident. These people do not belong to any faith. They certainly don’t belong to my faith of Islam.”

Mahmood said the attacker and those like him “should be condemned by everybody and this shouldn’t serve as a tool for division within our community.”

Many suspects in British terror attacks or plots have roots in Birmingham, which has been described by the Henry Jackson Society conservative think tank as a center for Islamist extremism. Several local mosques have also been linked to extremist clerics.

British security forces have foiled 13 plots in the past four years. There are currently thousands of extremists in the U.K. who are known to officials but only a fraction of whom are under surveillance, according to a security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about ongoing security operations. It takes dozens of officers to watch just one terror suspect.

Witnesses said the attacker went straight after the police officer after ramming into the pedestrians.

“This man got out of the car with two knives in his hands and while he was running he was stabbing people. He arrived in front of the entrance to the parliament and he started to stab a policeman,” said Vincenzo Mangiacarpe, an Italian boxer who was visiting Parliament. “You can imagine if someone was playing a drum on your back with 2 knives – he gave him around 10 stabs in the back, then he left the policeman and he came toward us.”

Metropolitan Police counterterrorism chief Mark Rowley said 29 people required hospitalization and seven of them were in critical condition. He said authorities were still working out the number of “walking wounded” from the attack.

May said people from 11 countries were among the victims, including 12 Britons, four South Koreans, three French, two Romanians, two Greeks and two Irish and one person each from Germany, Poland, China, Italy and the United States.

In fact, there were two U.S. victims. Kurt Cochran, a Utah man visiting London with his wife Melissa for their 25th anniversary, was named as among the dead by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His wife was hospitalized in the attack.

U.S. President Donald Trump was among the world leaders offering their condolences.

London has been a target for terrorism many times over past decades and the threat level for the British capital was already listed at severe, meaning an attack was “highly likely.” Just this weekend, hundreds of armed police took part in an exercise simulating a terror attack on a tourist boat on the River Thames, which winds through London.

May said the attack in London targeted “free people everywhere” and declared she had a response for those behind it: “You will not defeat us.”
An attacker carries out a vehicle-ramming attack outside the Houses of Parliament in London, before stabbing a police officer and subsequently being shot by security forces. Including the attacker, there are at least four people dead.