London Bridge : Formerly convicted of terrorism, the attacker had been released on bail

Usman Khan, a 28-year-old man who killed two people in a knife terrorist attack in London Bridge on Friday before being shot dead by police, was a former prisoner convicted of terrorism, said British counterterrorism chief, Neil Basu, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.

«This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 of terrorism offenses. He was released from prison in December 2018 on licence», said the police chief in a statement. The latter also stated that a search was under way in a home in Staffordshire County, central England, where he lived.

According to the PA news agency, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison for belonging to a group that wanted to commit a bombing attack on the London Stock Exchange. The group also planned to establish a terrorist training camp in Pakistan on a land that belonged to his family in Kashmir. The name of Boris Johnson, at the time mayor of London, had been found on a handwritten list of potential targets of the group.

Usman Khan was 19 years old, and was the youngest member of the group, according to The Guardian. Nevertheless, he was already considered «more radicalized» than the others. His release on bail in December 2018 was due to the fact that his level of dangerousness was eventually reassessed.

For the record, two people died and three were wounded in this stabbing attack on Friday, November 29th. The assailant was shot dead by the police.