Authorities say there is 'no evidence' London attacker had ties to ISIS or al Qaeda


Investigators have found "no evidence" that the man who killed four people in London last week had ties to the Islamic State or al Qaeda, The Associated Press reported Monday. The attacker, a 52-year-old English native born Adrian Russell Ajao but known as Khalid Masood, was fatally shot by police at the scene of the crime after killing four people in an SUV and knife attack Wednesday.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu told AP that Masood had "an interest in jihad," but that he apparently did not discuss the attack with international terrorist groups. Masood's attack "appear[ed] to be based on low sophistication, low tech, low cost techniques copied from other attacks," Basu added. The Islamic State claimed credit for the attack last week, calling Masood a "soldier of the state."
"At this stage we have no specific information about further threats to the public," Britain's Metropolitan Police counterterrorism chief Mark Rowley said late last week.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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