UK PM May goes hard line after London attackers kill seven

UK PM May goes hard line after London  attackers kill seven British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Sunday for a stronger ...

UK PM May goes hard line after London 

attackers kill seven

British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Sunday for a stronger response to Islamist extremism after three attackers rammed a hired van into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed others nearby, killing seven people and injuring 48.

The attack occurred five days before a parliamentary election and was the third to hit Britain in less than three months. May said Thursday's vote would go ahead.

"It is time to say enough is enough," the Conservative leader said outside her Downing Street office, where British flags flew at half-mast.

"We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are," May said, calling for a beefed-up counter-terrorism strategy that could include longer jail sentences for some offenses and agreements to regulate cyberspace.

A Canadian national was among those killed, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement. None of the dead were identified by name. French and Australian authorities said nationals from their countries were among those injured.

Police shot dead the three male assailants in the Borough Market area near London Bridge within eight minutes of receiving the first emergency call shortly after 10 p.m. (2100 GMT).

Mark Rowley, head of counter-terrorism police, said eight officers had fired about 50 bullets to stop the attackers, who appeared to be suicide bombers because they were wearing what turned out to be fake suicide vests.

UK PM May says "enough is enough" after London... by DonVhaiTv

"The situation these officers were confronted with was critical – a matter of life and death – three armed men, wearing what appeared to be suicide belts, had already attacked and killed members of the public and had to be stopped immediately," Rowley said.

A member of the public received non-critical gunshot wounds during the incident, he said.

London police arrested 12 people in the Barking district of east London in connection with the attack and raids were continuing there, the force said. A Reuters photographer saw another raid take place in nearby East Ham.

Less than two weeks ago, a suicide bomber killed 22 children and adults at a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England. In March, in a attack similar to Saturday's, five people died after a man drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in central London and stabbed a policeman.

May said the series of attacks were not connected in terms of planning and execution, but were inspired by what she called a "single, evil ideology of Islamist extremism" that represented a perversion of Islam and of the truth.

She said this ideology had to be confronted both abroad and at home, adding that the internet and big internet companies provided the space for such extremism to breed.

After the Manchester attack, Britain raised its threat level to "critical" - meaning an attack is expected imminently - but downgraded it back to "severe," which means an attack is highly likely, on May 27.