A convicted Islamist terrorist, who spent part of his teens in Pakistan and released last year from a UK prison, was suspected to be the man who stabbed two people to death in a terror attack on London Bridge. Two people were killed and several others injured in the London Bridge attack on Friday. The Scotland Yard had confirmed that a male suspect wearing a hoax bomb vest was shot dead at the scene. Police had identified the suspect as 28-year-old Usman Khan, inspired by the ideology of al-Qaeda terror group, was previously sentenced to 16 years in prison term for his role in the London Stock Exchange bombing in 1990.
But, who was the terrorist? According to The Telegraph, at the time of his sentencing in 2012, the judge warned that he was a "serious jihadist" who should not be released while he remained a threat to the public. Khan left school with no qualifications after spending part of his late teens in Pakistan, where he lived with his mother when she became ill, it said. The BBC reported that Khan was out on licence from prison when he killed two people and injured three others in the stabbing attack on Friday, before he was shot dead by the Scotland Yard. Khan was living in Stafford since being released from prison on December last, the report noted. At 19, he was the youngest of a group of four men from Stoke-on-Trent who took an active part in the local branch of al-Mujahiroun—a militant Salafi outfit that counted radical preacher Anjem Choudary among its ranks, the Times of India reported.
In February 2012, Khan was sentenced to eight years in prison. In 2013, the Court of Appeal sentenced him to a 16-year jail term after he was allegedly caught planning a terror strike. A 2012 judgment by a UK court bares out further details of his radicalisation. According to the judgment, Khan "fundraised for their plans to establish and recruit for a terrorist military training facility under the cover of a madrassa on land owned by Usman Khan’s family [supposedly in PoK]". And, this was a plan Khan took seriously. He, and others, wanted a "more long term and sustained path, to establish and operate that terrorist military training facility, at which Khan would train, which would make them, and others whom they would recruit to be trained there, more serious and effective terrorists." The document also noted that "they would initially operate in Kashmir [unclear whether Jammu and Kashmir or PoK], but later may return to the UK and may commit acts of terror in this jurisdiction."
The judgment goes: "First, they were trying to raise funds to build a madrassa beside an already existing mosque in Kashmir. Second, the long term plan included making the madrassas available for men who would be fighting to bring sharia to Kashmir in Pakistan. Third, the plan included fire arms training in or around the madrassa. Fourth, they did not intend to participate in an act of terrorism in the UK in the immediate future."
He and two other co-conspirators had conducted a surveillance trip around central London as they talked about launching a Mumbai-style attack on UK Parliament. The then-20-year-old pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct for the preparation of terrorism, which included travelling to and attending operational meetings, fundraising for terrorist training, preparing to travel abroad and assisting others in travelling abroad. "It was envisaged by them all that ultimately they and the other recruits may return to the UK as trained and experienced terrorists available to perform terrorist attacks in this country," Justice Alan Wilkie had noted during the sentencing hearing.They planned "sending letter bombs through the post, attacking pubs used by British racist groups, attacking a high profile target with an explosive device and a 'Mumbai' [26/11] style attack by terrorists".
On Saturday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a stabbing attack. "The person who carried out the London attack... was a fighter from the Islamic State, and did so in response to calls to target citizens of coalition countries," IS said, referring to a multi-country alliance against the group.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was then London Mayor, was on a hit-list found on Khan at the time of his arrest in 2012. Speaking before chairing a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra committee, Johnson said it is very important to break the "habit" of allowing serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early and "enforce the appropriate sentences for dangerous criminals, especially for terrorists". UK home secretary Priti Patel, who had recently unveiled plans for tougher sentences for violent criminals, said the police needed "space and time" to complete the investigation and that it was not right to "speculate". "We're supporting the police through this very difficult investigation. I think it's fair to say we're all shocked and saddened," the Indian-origin minister said.
