The Metropolitan Police said officers entered properties in Newham and Barking at 4.15am on Monday and ‘a number’ of people have been detained.
Victim of London Bridge attack died in fiance's arms
Searches were continuing at both addresses, police added.Residents reported hearing ‘loud flash bangs and gunshots’ in the early hours of Monday morning.
Twitter user BatemanLDN said: ‘It woke me up along with the whole street. Extremely loud bangs followed by gunshot bangs.
‘All ok – very shaken residents nearby though. All quietened down now.’
Simon Tucker wrote: ‘Heard this in the Dagenham area at around 4:15 am. Started with loud explosion sound. Followed by about 20 shots, Some sounded distant.’
Pedestrians were mowed down by a van on London Bridge before attackers stabbed a police officer and revellers around Borough Market with 12-inch knives.
One of the attackers shouted ‘this is for Allah’ as he knifed a man near a pub – while the Islamic State militant group claimed its fighters carried out the attack.
The three men, wearing fake suicide bomb vests, were shot dead by eight officers outside a pub after police opened fire with an ‘unprecedented’ hail of 50 bullets, while a bystander was also shot.
Officers say they know the identities of the men who carried out the attack and will release the names ‘as soon as operationally possible’.
Scotland Yard said seven women and five men aged between 19 and 60 were arrested under the Terrorism Act in Barking on Sunday. A 55-year-old man was later released without charge.
The first victim of the attack has been named as Canadian national Christine Archibald, who worked in a homeless shelter until she moved to Europe to be with her fiance.
Her family said in a statement: ‘We grieve the loss of our beautiful, loving daughter and sister. She had room in her heart for everyone and believed strongly that every person was to be valued and respected.
‘She would have had no understanding of the callous cruelty that caused her death.’
Network Rail said London Bridge rail and London Underground stations reopened at 5am but the rail station will be exit only.
People from around the world were caught up as hundreds cowered in pubs and restaurants, barricading themselves inside as the attackers stalked the streets.
Tales of heroism emerged in the aftermath, with one British Transport Police officer taking on the trio armed only with his baton before being stabbed in the head, face and leg.
An off-duty Metropolitan Police officer was also injured after he tackled the men.
Forty-eight people were left in hospital, 21 critically injured.
As counter-terrorism police units and security services launched a huge investigation for the third time in a matter of weeks, officers arrested a dozen people in raids on flats in Barking, east London, where residents said they believed one of the terrorists may have lived.
One neighbour said one of the attackers had recently asked him how he could hire a van.
A friend of one of the attackers also told the BBC Asian Network he had reported him to the anti-terror hotline after he began expressing increasingly radical views and justifying terror attacks, but the man said he was never arrested.
Two suspects were also detained in East Ham.
Witnesses to Saturday’s attack said the terrorists deliberately drove into pedestrians on London Bridge shortly after 10pm – in the same way as Westminster Bridge attacker Khalid Masood.
Attacking people after abandoning the van, they headed to Borough Market where the pubs and restaurants were packed with Saturday night crowds, many watching the Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid in Cardiff.
One woman, Elizabeth O’Neill, said her son Daniel was approached by one of the men who said, ‘this is for my family, this is for Islam’, before sticking a knife in him.
The 23-year-old was left with a seven-inch wound from his stomach to his back and was saved by a friend who applied a tourniquet and took him downstairs in a pub.
With her son being treated in King’s College Hospital, Mrs O’Neill condemned the terrorists as ‘callous and barbaric’, saying: ‘These people say they are doing it in the name of God, which is an absolute joke.’
Giving an update on the investigation outside New Scotland Yard, the Met’s assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said ‘significant progress’ had been made in identifying the attackers.
He said that as well as more armed police across the capital in coming days, ‘the public will also see increased physical measures in order to keep public safe on London’s bridges’.
The Government’s emergency Cobra committee gathered on Sunday afternoon, for the second time that day, to discuss the attack.
Prime Minister Theresa May delivered a stark assessment of the threat facing the UK, saying that although there was no direct link between the three incidents, ‘terrorism breeds terrorism’.
She warned Britain is in the grip of a spate of copycat terror plots and stated her determination to stamp out ‘safe spaces’ that exist in the real world, saying: ‘There is – to be frank – far too much tolerance of extremism in our country.’
Mrs May set out a four-pronged strategy to tackle terror by countering radical ideology; clamping down on online extremism; preventing the growth of segregated communities; and giving extra powers to police, security agencies and courts.
But Labour complained she was getting involved in political debate on a day when the parties had agreed to halt election campaigning until the evening – before leader Jeremy Corbyn denounced her record on dealing with the terror threat, accusing her of denying resources to the police and security services.
After Mrs May delivered her bleak appraisal of the risk facing the UK, US president Donald Trump, in a series of early morning tweets, lashed out at London mayor Sadiq Khan for his response to the attack, saying it is time to ‘stop being politically correct’ about terrorism.
However, the president’s criticism of Mr Khan for suggesting Londoners should not be ‘alarmed’ was based on a clear misinterpretation of some of the mayor’s comments.
In a withering riposte, a spokesman for the mayor said: ‘He has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet.’
And Lew Lukens, the acting US ambassador to the UK, said: ‘I commend the strong leadership of the @MayorofLondon as he leads the city forward after this heinous attack.’
Meanwhile, Ariana Grande returned to Manchester less than a fortnight after bomber Salma Abedi detonated a bomb in the foyer of the Manchester Arena, killing 22.
Take That, Niall Horan and Miley Cyrus kicked off the One Love Manchester benefit concert at Old Trafford to remember the those killed and the survivors of the suicide bomb attack at before Grande herself took to the stage to the delight of her thousands of fans in the audience.
Everything we know about the London Bridge terror attack so far
The horrific, brutal attack has been officially declared a terrorist incident.
Since the attack was first reported last night, police officers, paramedics and doctors have been working through the early hours of the morning to help those injured in the attacks.
Here is everything we know so far.
What happened
Seven people were killed and 48 seriously injured in the attack. Out of those, 21 are in a critical condition.
The emergency services were first called to reports of a white van driving into several people on London Bridge at 10.08pm on Saturday.
The entire area and nearby railway stations were closed, including London Bridge.
Witnesses reported seeing the van driving at around 50mph, mounting the pavement and sweving into a number of people.
Holly Jones, a BBC reporter who was on the bridge at the time, said: ‘A white van driver came speeding – probably about 50mph – veered off into the crowds of people who were walking along the pavement.
‘He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people.’
When it arrived, the suspects stabbed several people in a crowded area. They then went from bar to bar, attacking people with 12-inch hunting knives.
Shots were then heard in the area, which was later confirmed to have been police officers shooting the suspects dead.
Two police officers were seriously injured in the attack – one Met officer, and another from the British Transport Police. One of the officers, who was first on the scene of the attack, took on the three armed terrorists with nothing but his baton.
A third police unit was sent to the Vauxhall area after reports of a stabbing, but this was later confirmed to not be connected to the attacks in London Bridge and Borough Market.
Victims
Seven people died in the attack.London Ambulance Service said it had taken at least 48 injured people to five different London hospitals, while those described as ‘walking wounded’ were treated at the Andaz Hotel near Liverpool Street, where there were paramedics and more armed officers. Later, it was confirmed that 21 people were in a critical condition.
A British Transport Police officer who was left ‘seriously injured’ was reportedly stabbed in the face, head, and leg.
Police boats searched the River Thames for anyone who may have fallen from the bridge during the attack.
Canadian national Chrissy Archibald was confirmed as having tragically passed away in the attack. A French national, who has not been named, also died on Saturday night.
Who can you call if you’re concerned about loved ones
Anyone concerned about friends or relatives can call the Met Police’s Casualty Bureau, which remains open.Call 0800 096 1233 and 020 7158 0197.
The attackers
Police said the men were shot within eight minutes of officers receiving the first reports of the attack.
Witnesses described seeing between two and four men getting out of the van after it crashed just south of London Bridge.
A photographer at the scene, outside the Wheatsheaf pub, took a photo of one of the suspects wearing a vest with canisters strapped to themselves. The vests later turned out to be fake.
The person who took the photo said he then saw the attackers being shot by police.
On Sunday afternoon, police raided a property in Barking. They made 12 arrests in connection to Saturday night’s attack – six men and six women.
What’s happening now
The ongoing investigation is being led by the Counter Terrorism Command.
Police say they believe they’ve caught all of the attackers, which is why the country’s terrorism threat level was not raised to ‘critical’, as it was in the wake of the Manchester atrocity.
The Met and BTP said cordons put in place on Saturday night would ‘remain well into Monday’.
MET POLICE’S FULL STATEMENT
In a statement released on Sunday night at 10pm, the Met Police’s Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said: ‘We would like to thank the media for their continued support, restraint and understanding in not speculating as to who the suspects are in this fast moving investigation.
‘I would like to assure them and the public that this is directly assisting the progression of the investigation and confirm we will release the identities of the three men directly responsible for the attacks yesterday, Saturday, 3 June, as soon as operationally possible.
‘Officers have been working tirelessly to process the crime scenes and release the cordons. We are hopeful that some of the cordons around London Bridge station will be released during the course of tomorrow morning but consult TFL website before you set out on your journey’s into and around London tomorrow.
‘The public can expect to see additional police – both armed and unarmed officers – across the Capital as you would expect in these circumstances. And our security and policing plans for events are being reviewed, the public will also see increased physical measures on London’s bridges to keep the public safe.’
TRANSPORT
However, Borough station reopened on Sunday evening, and all other stations reopened on Monday morning.
The Thames was briefly closed, but reopened to boats on Sunday morning.
HOSPITALS
Guy’s Hospital, which is in the London Bridge area, was placed on lockdown as a precaution to keep staff and patients safe. St Thomas’ and the Evelina Children’s Hospital a mile away were also put on lockdown. This has however now been lifted.
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