LONDON: The attacker who killed three people near parliament in London before being shot dead was named on Thursday as British-born Khalid Masood, who was once investigated by MI5 intelligence officers over concerns about violent extremism.

The militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack in a statement issued by its Amaq news agency, but did not name Masood and gave no details. It was not clear whether the attacker was directly connected to the group.

Many have been shocked that the lone attacker was able to cause such mayhem in the heart of the capital equipped with nothing more than a hired car and a knife.

IS claims responsibility for London strike

“This kind of attack, this lone-wolf attack, using things from daily life, a vehicle, a knife, are much more difficult to forestall,” Britain’s Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told the BBC.

About 40 people were injured in the attack, of whom 29 remain in hospital, seven in critical condition. The injured included 12 Britons, three French children, two Romanians, four South Koreans, one German, one Pole, one Chinese, one American and two Greeks.

Police said Masood, 52, was born in the county of Kent, south-east England, and was most recently living in the West Midlands region of central England.

“Masood was not the subject of any current investigations and there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

“However, he was known to police and has a range of previous convictions for assaults, including GBH (grievous bodily harm), possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.”

Prime Minister Theresa May told parliament the attacker had once been investigated by the MI5 intelligence agency over concerns about violent extremism, but was a peripheral figure.

Police said Khalid Masood had never been convicted of a terrorism offence. His first conviction was in 1983 for criminal damage and his last one was in December 2003 for possession of a knife.

During five minutes of mayhem in the heart of London on Wednesday, Masood sped across Westminster Bridge in a car, ploughing into pedestrians. He then ran through the gates of the nearby parliament building and fatally stabbed an unarmed policeman before being shot dead. Police arrested eight people at six locations in London and Birmingham in the investigation into the attack, which Theresa May said was inspired by a “warped Islamist ideology”.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2017