LONDON.- The government of United Kingdom raised the alert level to “serious” faced with the possibility of a terrorist attack. Immediately afterwards, the United States embassy in London he replied to the warning.
The US embassy announced this hours after British government officials said they had raised the threat of domestic terrorism to its second highest level.
For this reason, US authorities in that territory urged their fellow citizens to remain alert in public places, maintain a low profile and review their personal security plans.
“On Thursday, the United Kingdom government raised its national terrorist alert level to ‘severe,’ meaning an attack is highly likely,” the US embassy explained in a statement. release. “The recent increase is due to the increase in Islamist and far-right threats in the United Kingdom”, adds the text.
The threat level was raised from “substantial” to “serious” following an anti-Semitic stabbing attack in north London earlier this week. It indicates that an extremist attack is very likely in the next six months.
The attack that led to the new alert level occurred this Wednesday morning, when a man, identified as Essa Suleiman45, attacked two others with a knife (Shloime Rand, 34, and Moshe Shine, 76), who were injured and had to be hospitalized.
The incident took place on Highfield Avenue, in the area of Golders Greennorthwest of London, as reported The Guardian.
The London Metropolitan Police described the incident as an anti-Semitic attack, given that the victims belonged to the local Jewish community. The attacker, who was arrested, faces three counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a knife in a public place.
The British government described what happened as a “vile act of terrorism.” “The increase in the threat occurs after the stabbing in Golders Green, north of London, but it is not solely a consequence of that attack,” clarified the Home Secretary. Shabana Mahmoodas detailed The Guardian.
“The level of terrorist threat in the United Kingdom has been increasing for some time, driven by an increase in the Islamist and far-right terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the United Kingdom,” the official said, explaining: “It occurs in a context of increasing physical threats linked to the State, which encourages acts of violence, including against the Jewish community.”
With information from Reuters.
