2017 Westminster attack

On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place outside the Palace of Westminster in London, seat of the British Parliament. Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old Briton, drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement along the south side of Westminster Bridge and Bridge Street, injuring more than 50 people, four of them fatally. He then crashed the car into the perimeter fence of the palace grounds and ran into New Palace Yard, where he fatally stabbed an unarmed police officer. He was then shot by an armed police officer, and died at the scene.

Police treated the attack as "Islamist-related terrorism". Masood said in a final text message that he was waging jihad in revenge for Western military action in Muslim countries in the Middle East. Amaq News Agency, which is linked to the Islamic State, said the attacker answered the group's calls to target citizens of states that were fighting against it, though the claim was questioned by the UK police and government. Police have found no link with a terrorist organisation and believe Masood acted alone.

Background

Prior to the attack, the UK Threat Level for terrorism in the country was listed at "severe", meaning an attack was "highly likely". There had not been a killing at the Palace of Westminster since the assassination of Airey Neave by the Irish National Liberation Army in 1979, which took place close to New Palace Yard, during the Northern Ireland conflict. The previous terrorist attack to have caused multiple casualties on the British mainland had been the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Shortly before the attack, a division had been called in the House of Commons.