Raising the alert level from “substantial” to “serious” implies that an attack with severe consequences is highly likely, Interior Minister Priti Patel said in a statement.
The UK was last at this threat level in November 2020 before being downgraded to “substantial” in February 2021.
The police of United Kingdom qualified this Monday as “terrorist incident“the explosion of a taxi in front of a hospital in Liverpool on Sunday, in an event for which the taxi driver was considered a “hero” for avoiding a major “catastrophe”.
On Sunday night, anti-terrorism police reported the arrest of “three men aged 29, 26 and 21” under “terrorism law” in the Kensington area. On Monday, police announced the arrest of a fourth 20-year-old man.
The reasons for this “act of terrorism” are not yet known, said Russ Jackson, head of the anti-terrorism police in North West England.
Investigators believe that the explosive device was “manufactured” by the passenger, who carried it inside the vehicle and died after it was detonated. The passenger took a taxi on Rutland Avenue in Liverpool and asked to go to the women’s hospital, a 10-minute drive away.
The explosion occurred just before 11 am (local time and GMT) during the commemorations of the war victims, called “Remembrance sunday“in the UK. A few hundred yards away, soldiers, veterans and members of the public were gathered for a tribute at Liverpool Cathedral.
Police do not know if the explosion was also aimed at the commemorations. According to local media citing investigators and friends of the taxi driver, another version is that the passenger wanted to go to the cathedral first, but as some streets were closed, the driver had to pass in front of the hospital.
“We cannot establish a connection at this time, but it is a line of investigation that we are exploring,” Jackson said at the news conference on Monday.
Some tabloids and policy makers They called the taxi driver a “hero”, who was injured in the explosion, but allowed – according to them – to avoid deaths.
“The case is still under investigation, so I cannot comment on the details or say exactly what kind of incident it was, but it appears that the taxi driver in question behaved with incredible courage and courage,” the prime minister said on Monday. Boris Johnson during a visit to a London medical center.
The anti-terrorism police are in charge of the investigation with the support of the intelligence service MI5, as specified by the BBC.
According to the Daily Mail, the driver realized that the passenger was “suspicious” and locked him in the taxi before escaping.
“The taxi driver, with his heroic efforts, managed to avoid what could be a horrible catastrophe in the hospital,” Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson told the BBC on Monday. Anderson confirmed that the driver had “locked the doors” of the vehicle.
For his part, the president of the Conservative Party, Oliver Dowden, said that what happened “reminds us that the threat of terrorism has not disappeared.”
The area was still cordoned off this Monday morning on Rutland Avenue in Liverpool and a “small number of homes were evacuated as a precaution,” Greater Manchester police reported.
Images published in local media showed thick gray smoke near the hospital and a charred vehicle.
The police exhorted the population to “remain calm but vigilant.”
Source From: Ambito
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