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UK terror attack: The aftermath

Tuesday, 23 June 2020 12:56 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 23 June 2020 12:56 AM ]

Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, London

A minute’s silence in Reading to remember the three people stabbed to death on Saturday.

The attacker, Khairi Saadallah, originally from Libya, who also injured a few other people just before 7pm is in police custody.

Witnesses described horrific scenes in Forbury Gardens a park in Reading, a town 64 km from the British capital.

The British Prime Minister has promised action following the incident. Security officials say the 25-year-old man came to the attention of the UK’s security service MI5 in 2019. However after the information about Saadallah was further investigated, no case file was opened which would have made him a target for further investigation.

And that has raised questions about whether the reading stabbing incident could have been avoided.

Two of the three victims named so far. A 36-year-old history teacher James Furlong and his friend Joe Ritchie-Bennett, 39 from Philadelphia, described as talented, inspirational and kind by family and friends.

In November last year, the UK's official threat level from terrorism was reduced from "severe" to "substantial", meaning it remained likely, but there was no intelligence of an immediate risk to life.

Since November last year, there have already been three major incidents in which two people have died. Two of those attacks were carried out by lone individuals.

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