London terror attack: 'Brace ourselves' for further attacks, says security expert

People are lead to safety on Southwark Bridge away from London Bridge
Carl Court/Getty Images
Eleanor Rose4 June 2017

A security expert has warned that more attacks could follow last night’s atrocity in London Bridge, especially during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Dr Sajjan Gohel, international security director at London-based thinktank the Asia-Pacific Foundation, told the Standard that last night’s attack bore a striking resemblance to March’s attack in Westminster and that citizens should “brace ourselves” for further incidents.

“The sad thing is that this attack is not surprising. We’ve seen this tactic, called ‘the just terror’,” said the academic, who consults with government and intergovernmental bodies on terrorism and security.

“We saw it in Westminster and now we’re seeing it again.

“It’s designed to wear us down. It’s psychological - it’s visual, graphic, and it’s relentless,” he said.

The timing of the attack, in which seven people were killed and 48 injured, coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Dr Gohel said Isis was hijacking the celebration “for its own nefarious purposes”.

“We could see further attacks during Ramadan, not just here but elsewhere in the world,” he said.

Dr Gohel believes Saturday night’s attackers were inspired by Khalid Masood’s attack in Westminster on March 22, in which the 52-year-old Briton mowed down pedestrians on the south side of Westminster Bridge before stabbing an unarmed police officer in New Palace Yard.

Since then, ISIS operatives have tried to encourage further vehicle-knife attacks of the same kind, publishing articles in its propaganda magazines and even a poster with the caption “Just terror”.

Aftermath of London Bridge and Borough Market terrorist attack

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ISIS offers advice on what kind of vehicles and knives to use, and intricate details of how to carry out attacks.

“They’ve thought it through in this disturbing, chilling way,” he said.

Rather than necessarily being “lone wolf” attacks, Dr Gohel believes they could be linked by the possible involvement of an ISIS intelligence unit called the Emni – made up of former members of Saddam Hussein’s intelligence network who now groom potential militants online “like a paedophile”, he said.

The Emni are the “guiding hand”, communicating with on-the-ground operatives through a virtual network on the dark web and encrypted messaging services.

The rise in unsophisticated knife and vehicle attacks can also be linked to the fact the terror group is now losing ground in Syria and Iraq, he said.

People are lead to safety away from London Bridge
Carl Court/Getty Images

“The more they lose, the more they will attack. They are confined operationally so their only option is to react aggressively to attack, like a cornered rat.

“They’re not going to go quietly into the night. They’re going to take as many people as possible with them – it fits into their death cult narrative,” he said.

He said such attacks are cost-effective and simple to carry out, and very hard to foil.

“We’ve seen [attacks] in Berlin, Paris, and there were plots in the US. It seems that it’s our turn this year,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be in London, as we’ve seen with the Manchester attack. But London will be the centre if at all possible,” he said.

He added: “We will have to brace ourselves.”

The only positive was the speed of the police response, with officers arriving within eight minutes, he said.

“What they were able to do was to contain this and stop it proliferating, which it could have,” he said.

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