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Authorities investigating the latest terrorist attack in London know the identity of the three attackers who killed seven people and injured 48, police say.
Key points:
- London police chief won't say whether attackers were known to them
- UK terrorism threat level remains at "severe"
- Election campaigning heats up with Jeremy Corbyn calling for Theresa May's resignation
Police said the names of the attackers would be released "as soon as operationally possible" as officers worked to establish if they were part of a wider network.
Irish state broadcaster RTE, citing Irish police sources, reported one of the attackers had an Irish identification card.
London's Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick wouldn't say whether authorities were familiar with the men before the attack.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for three attacks in Britain since March, and Ms Dick described the recent wave of violence as "unprecedented in my working life".
"We in this country have faced a terrorist threat throughout my life — it changed and morphed and we will change and adapt to what appears to be a new reality for us," she said.
British police also said Saturday's attack appeared to be home-grown.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May warned that the country faced a new threat from copycat attacks.
She said Britain must do "more, much more" to combat what she called the perverted ideology of radical Islam.
New barricades on bridges were among additional security measures put in place around the British capital as the UK terrorism threat level remained at "severe".
"That means that a terrorist attack is highly likely," Ms May said.
Most of the London Underground stations in the neighbourhood where the attack took place reopened on Monday.
More arrests in hunt for accomplices
Counterterrorism investigators searched two more homes on Monday and detained "a number" of people.
At least 12 people were arrested on Sunday, including five men and seven women ranging in age from 19 to 60. One person has since been released without charge.
Eighteen people remain in a critical condition and a further 18 are still being treated in hospital after the attack, British health authorities said on Monday.
"A total of 36 … patients [are] currently being cared for in five London hospitals, and of these 18 remain in a critical condition," the National Health Service said.
Dozens were injured in the attack that started on the London Bridge, when three attackers swerved a van into pedestrians then, armed with knives, rampaged through Borough Market, slashing and stabbing anyone they could find.
A total of four Australians were caught up in the attack, with two injured and "very real concerns" for two more, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said.
Calls for May's resignation over cuts to police numbers
The country's major political parties had temporarily suspended campaigning ahead of the general election but Ms May said the vote would take place as scheduled on Thursday because "violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process".
The political tempo picked up again with Ms May saying opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was unfit to handle security and Brexit.
But with the London attack dominating attention, a reduction in the number of police officers in England and Wales by almost 20,000 during Ms May's six years as interior minister from 2010 to 2016 shot to the top of the election agenda.
Mr Corbyn called for Ms May's resignation over the police cuts and said many people were "very worried that she was at the Home Office for all this time, presided over these cuts in police numbers, and now is saying that we have a problem".
The Conservatives' lead over Labour has narrowed markedly from 20 points or more when Ms May called the election in April to a range between one and 12 points now, although they are still widely expected to win a majority.
ABC/Wires
Topics: terrorism, crime, law-crime-and-justice, defence-and-national-security, police, world-politics, united-kingdom