Latest news with #LondonBombings
The Sun
12-07-2025
- The Sun
Fugitive ‘White Widow' terrorist Samantha Lewthwaite ‘is still alive and active in terror cell financing jihadists'
THE notorious 'White Widow' Brit terrorist linked to 400 deaths who married a 7/7 suicide bomber is still alive and active in terror cells, a new investigation has claimed. Samantha Lewthwaite has been one of the world's most wanted terrorists having eluded capture for years. 6 6 6 6 Rumours have circulated since her disappearance that she died in a drone strike. But an investigation from the Daily Mail has shed lights on the possible whereabouts of a figure linked to a series of ghastly attacks. It comes as Britain marks 20 years since the London bombings on July 7, 2005 this week, in which 52 people died and hundreds were injured. Lewthwaite, who was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in Aylesbury, was married to one of the suicide bombers, Germaine Lindsay. She denied knowing he planned to blow up a tube train, but her subsequent alleged involvement with other terrorists has cast doubt on that. The now 41-year-old left the UK in 2009 and went to South Africa, before heading on to Tanzania in 2011 and then to Kenya. Lewthwaite was put on Interpol's red list of fugitives in 2013 after a shopping mall massacre in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in which 67 died. She is also accused of orchestrating the attack in Mombasa targeting England fans during Euro 2012, and two other deadly attacks in the country. The Brit has been in total linked to around 400 deaths. Security services across Africa and the Middle East have tried to track her down without any success for a decade and a half. At a court hearing in 2014, one Kenyan detective said: "She is a person with multiple identification. "She keeps moving. We think she is using plastic surgery including her nose." But it is now believed she is still alive and was spotted in Uganda as recently as last year. She is allegedly now based in Somalia, where she is part of an al-Shabaab cell - an al-Qaeda affiliate. "Despite not knowing her exact location, we believe she is active in terrorism activities under al-Shabaab control in Somalia," a source said. The White Widow was also reported to be the "main financier" of the cell, operating in a logistical role. In this position, she allegedly controls the money instead of working on the front lines. She is also said to be a fan of Beyonce and Weetabix. Police previously crossed paths briefly with Lewthwaite when investigating a property in Mombasa in 2011. A British man called Jermaine Grant was arrested when fuses and ammunition were found stashed under a sofa - and he named Lewthwaite as the senior cell member. While cops discovered she was in the adjacent apartment, the passport they found was in a different name. Lewthwaite had fled by the time they realised the passport was a fake. This was the last confirmed sighting of her. It is now alleged the officers accepted a bribe of five million Kenyan dollars (nearly £30,000) from her when they went to the apartment. In 2018, there were alleged sightings in Yemen where she was said to be offering as little as £300 to the desperate families of young women to persuade them to become suicide bombers. She has not yet been charged with any of those offences. As a teenager she was seduced by the teachings of extremist cleric, Trevor Forrest, or Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal. Lewthwaite even visited him in prison in 2006, a year after the bombings. Through el-Faisal she met first husband, bomber Germaine Lindsay who killed himself and 26 others on the Tube in July 7, 2005. 6 6
The Guardian
11-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Former Met police commissioner Ian Blair dies
Sir Ian Blair, the former Metropolitan police commissioner, has died at the age of 72. Blair led Britain's biggest force from 2005 until his resignation in 2008 after losing the support of the then-mayor of London, Boris Johnson. He was lauded for making changes to the force but was also criticised over the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in July 2005 shorting after the London bombings. In 2010, he became a crossbench peer in the House of Lords. More details soon …
Sky News
11-07-2025
- Sky News
Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Ian Blair has died, Sky News understands
Former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Ian Blair has died aged 72, Sky News understands. Lord Blair led the force for three years between 2005 and 2008 and was in charge during the response to the 7/7 London bombings. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the latest version.
Arab News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Remembering the 7/7 attacks and the backlash that followed
The UK on Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the July 7, 2005, attacks that left 52 people dead (56 including the attackers) and 784 injured. They were the victims of an attack planned by a group of four young British men who traveled into Central London carrying large backpacks containing homemade bombs. Three of them boarded trains on the London Underground network and detonated their devices, killing and maiming dozens. As the authorities were still trying to establish what had happened, another device was detonated on a bus. The carnage created by these devastating explosions was horrific. It is right that people remember those killed and injured in these tragic events — they were innocent bystanders who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But on the day this article was written, nearly 100 people were killed in Gaza. They had nowhere to escape, with their homes mostly razed to the ground over the past two years. Tens of thousands have died since the war started, but it is unlikely their names will be remembered as well as those killed in London that fateful morning as millions traveled to work. Tens of thousands have died in the Gaza war, but it is unlikely their names will be remembered as well as those killed in London Peter Harrison London is a multicultural city filled with people of every nationality, ethnicity, culture and religion. If the 7/7 attacks were aimed at hurting Britain, they were misguided. If the killers, who claimed they were Muslims, were doing it in the name of their religion, then what about the Muslims they killed? If it were out of hatred of the British, then what about the people who were born in other parts of the world who were there or who lost loved ones? And if it were an attack on British society, what about those people impacted who opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or stood firmly opposed to the politics that governed the country, but did so peacefully? The attackers did claim to be Muslims, but they certainly did not carry out an act of love or peace — the two driving factors of the faith that the vast majority of Muslims follow and practice. Over the last three decades, the world has been impacted by many acts of violence largely claimed to be in the name of religion, although there have been fewer than many people seem to think. We live in an era of uncertainty and increased fear of perceived threats. A YouGov poll published ahead of the 7/7 anniversary found that the level of concern about the threat of terrorism in the UK has been growing. 'Where in mid-2023 only 14 percent of Britons felt the threat had increased 'a lot' over the preceding five years, that figure has steadily increased … and has now doubled to 29 percent as of June,' the report explained. Again, if the 7/7 attackers believed they were killing in the name of their claimed faith, then spare a thought for the Muslims left behind, many of whom have at some point been pressured to denounce every attack or be accused of supporting the killers. The truth is that all the 7/7 attackers and the few others like them have achieved is a marked increase in Islamophobia. All that the 7/7 attackers and the few others like them have achieved is a marked increase in Islamophobia Peter Harrison So, not only do Muslims in the UK have anxieties related to the fear of future terror attacks, but they also have daily concerns about attacks against them because of their faith. Far more people suffer from that than have been attacked by extremists. The YouGov poll found that 47 percent of Britons consider Islamist extremists to be a 'big threat.' But while the police and intelligence services in the UK now see right-wing extremists as being on a par, only 25 percent of those polled share that view. Ironically, active threats from Islamist extremists in the UK may be 'high, but stable,' but those from right-wing extremists are 'rapidly increasing.' Islamophobia is a real problem. In October 2024, the monitoring group Tell Mama reported a spike in anti-Muslim abuse to 4,971 incidents in the year following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks — the highest total in 14 years. It is also well documented that, in the days that followed 7/7, there was a notable increase in Islamophobia in the UK. There is a growing trend in British politics, like much of the West, to move further to the right. Political parties of all persuasions have joined in the blame culture, pointing the finger at a supposed influx of migrants. The truth is that, following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, there was an inevitable increase in the number of migrants arriving in Britain legally or otherwise, but that is expected to fall away in the coming years. Hatred seems to have become the tool of choice when discussing politics. But surely the best way to beat attacks such as those commemorated this week is to show how united our communities are. It is right we remember those impacted by attacks such as 7/7 and it is right to be shocked, but it is also important to remember that this does not happen often and, as such, we remember the names of those killed 20 years ago on Monday. There are thousands of people killed elsewhere whose names we will never know.
SBS Australia
08-07-2025
- General
- SBS Australia
'People risked their lives to save my life': Remembering the July 2005 terror attack
White petals fall from the ceiling of St Paul's Cathedral as the names of the 52 victims from the July 7th 2005 bombings of London buses and tube trains were read aloud. The suicide bombings, carried out by Islamist extremists, remain the worst attack London has seen since the second world war. Four British men inspired by al-Qaida blew themselves up with devices on three tube carriages, one on a bus, all in the morning rush hour, timed to cause as much death and destruction as possible. Graham Foulkes, the father of David Foulkes, who was killed in the attack at Edgware Road Station, told the congregation at the memorial service that London has remained a place of hope: "For many people, nothing was the same again, and yet everything was the same again, because the good which is in Londoners, and the countless visitors who they host at any given moment is not erased by hatred or by threat or rather, it's fostered to produce a harvest of hope for each generation." That day saw the worst… but also the best of humanity. Australian expat Gill Hicks was on her way to work at the Design Council in London when the tube train she was in was blown up between Kings Cross and Russell Square. She was rescued from the wreckage but was so severely injured the hospital was unable to identify her at first. "People risked their lives to save my life, holding my broken body with unconditional love, that's extraordinary. This is humanity, and I'm living proof of what happens when humanity comes together." Two decades on, the memories remain vivid for survivors. Thelma Stober had been standing next to one of the bombers. "I found myself on the train tracks, part of me under the train, part of me outside. And I had part of the train door on my thigh. I could see bodies lying around and I put my hand up and said, help me, help me, I'm alive. I don't want to die." For those who lost loved ones - like Graham Foulkes - the anniversary remains a difficult day. "I shouldn't be having this conversation with you. I should be at home at this time, having dinner or going to the pub with David. And it's not possible to describe the feeling of having your son murdered in such a pointless way." The bombings remain seared into London's collective memory and changed the way Britain conducts counter-terrorism investigations. Mark Rowley is the Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police. "The first was the changes that brought policing and our security services, particularly MI5, much more close together so that we now have the closest joint operating arrangements anywhere in the world." There have been attacks in the capital since - in fact two weeks later, four other bombers attempted a similar attack, but their devices failed to explode and no one was hurt. None have been on the same scale as 7/7. At the Hyde Park memorial, the Prince of Wales paid his respects. His father, King Charles, saying while the horrors will never be forgotten, it is a 'spirit of unity' that has helped London to heal.
