The
London bridge attack is a terrorist attack that took place on the 3rd of June
2017 at around 21:58 local time. As narrated by witnesses, a white van drove
from the north side onto the bridge and mounted on the pavement where it ran
over several people. The van then crashed into a pole at the end of the bridge.
The crashing was followed by three men coming out of the van with knives and
run to the Borough Market nearby where they stabbed several people enjoying
themselves in the restaurants and pubs. The restaurants and pubs affected were
around Southwark Tavern, Wheatsheaf, and Brindisa Tapas Bar area. In a span of
ten minutes, police had been informed of the assailants and arrived at the
scene at 22:08 where they fired unprecedented 50 shots at the assailants which
left all three dead. The three were observed to have been wearing fake suicidal
vests (Brinded, 2017).
Like
any other attack, there is bound to be unwanted casualties where one civilian
was hit by a bullet and was rushed to the hospital for treatment. The police
cordoned off the area informing the members of the public that they are
supposed to vacate it as it was a crime scene. The police operations in the
area went for around one hour with the primary question as to whether all the
assailants were shot or there were others who escaped. As a result,
reinforcement was requested from the capital to help with the investigation. As
stated earlier, the assailants wore fake suicidal vests which helped them deter
onlookers from trying to intervene. The jackets would also serve as a
motivation for the police to shot instead of making an arrest hence prevent
capture and ensure the martyr status for the terrorists (Brinded, 2017).
The
London bridge attack left seven people dead, and 48 of then sustaining
injuries. Three days after the attack, 18 people were still in critical
condition. Some of the 18 people were from different nationalities including
Australian, New Zealand, British, Spanish, Canadian and French. Among the
members of the police force, four were left wounded. One of the police officers
sustained severe injuries as he confronted one of the assailants with only a
baton outside London bridge. After a series of investigations, several raids
were done on the east of London including areas like Barking and Newham. With
arrests of up to 12 people made which included seven women. All this has
affected the community of the area by instilling fear to the people and causing
unnecessary panic among the people due to fear of a repeat of the same
(Alexander, 2017)
The
events of the London bridge attack can be looked at in an angle that analyzes
the attackers and the proper response to an event like this. The analysis is by
use of the NIMS system. NIMS is a standard approach on response to incidences
and their management. The system was developed by the Department of Homeland
Security to establish a uniform process and procedure to be followed by
emergency responders in all the level of the government. The system has several
benefits among them enabling standardized organizational structures procedures
and processes, providing personnel qualification standards, supports technology
where voice data communication systems are supported and many more (Alexander,
2017). Through the system, it is easy to deploy surveillance and intelligence
prior an incident and also enabling quick response to an attack like the one
that happened in London.
According
to the investigation that has been done on the attack it has been determined
that the attack was perpetrated by a radical Muslim group in the U.K. One of
the attackers went by the name Khurram Butt. He was a 27-year-old Pakistan-born
British citizen who lived in east London with his wife and two children.
Khurram had been reported twice to the anti-terror police, but there had been
no evidence of him having any plans of an attack. Butt had been said to have
been radicalized by watching YouTube videos and have extreme views. The
terrorist had tried to go to Syria and fight the jihad war, but he had been
discouraged by members of the family, and also his wife was pregnant at the
time. Prior radicalization, Butt had worked for Transport for London (TfL) a
transport operator in London, and also a branch of KFC a first food chain. The terrorist had tried to convert a
neighbor’s children to Islam, but the neighbor had reported him to the
authorities (Alexander, 2017). The other terrorist identified was Rachid
Redouane, a 30-year-old Moroccan-Libyan who also lived in east London and more
specifically Barking. The means by which the two came to know each other and
work together is yet to be known. Proper profiling is supposed to be done on
the criminals to identify their connection to each other and any other networks
they may have left behind. Understanding these connections enables the
responsible departments to recognize and deal with them in efforts to prevent a
repeat of the same.
The
NIMS system dictates that response to any attack should be immediate without
considering the level or standard of the event. The responders of the London
bridge took about 10minutes to get to the scene. The response was quite first
and was a useful tack tick in containing the attack. However, the responders
failed to respond with the right equipment. As seen earlier, one police officer
was badly injured due to lack of proper equipment to hand the assailant. He
arrived at the scene with only a baton instead of proper guns. The team also
shot the terrorist on site as they were considered to have worn suicidal bomb
vest. With the right intelligence in place, the team would have identified the
attackers even before it happened(Gallagher, 2017). They would have also been
able to learn whether the vests were real or not through prior information on
the movement of the terrorists. At the time of response, the team would have
arrested the assailants instead of shooting on sight, and as a result, a lot of
information on their organization would have been exposed through interrogation
of these attackers.
In
conclusion, London bridge attack could not have happened if the right
intelligence was in place. The intelligence that was there ignored attempts
made by the public in identifying a threat to the country. Despite the effects
on the country and the people it affected, the attack was, however, a lesson to
the country and other nations at large not to ignore threats. It is an example
of a case that should have been prevented if the responsible authorities made
the necessary investigation following procedures like the likes of NIMS.
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