Officials in the UK have lowered the country’s terrorism threat level following Friday’s bombing of a London Underground station in Parsons Green.
The Mercury News reports that officials lowered the threat level Sunday to “severe” after raising it to its highest level, “critical,” immediately following the attack. Police report that the investigation into the bombing has been making rapid progress, and that two suspects have been arrested.
The Friday bombing took place at Parsons Green station, which is on the District line route between Earl’s Court and Wimbledon in southwest London. The Tube train had just pulled into the station and the doors had just opened when the explosion went off in the last carriage. 30 people were injured in the explosion, although none of the injuries were life-threatening, as experts said that it appears that the main charge of the bomb failed to detonate.
In a written statement European Tourism Association (ETOA) CEO Tom Jenkins characterized the attack as “mercifully inept.”
“These events are successful in so far as they are newsworthy,” Jenkins said. “The most notable thing at present is the striking durability of the carrier bag containing the device.”
According to a local interviewed by the Washington Post, Parsons Green is not a major tourist area, but is instead home to many cafes, pubs and shops.
“It feels very far away from the center,” Kate Llewellen-Jones, who lives next to the Underground station, told the Post.
A later report by the Washington Post indicates that the Islamic State terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, although experts warned that the group often tries to claim credit for attacks that it only inspired, as well as ones that it had nothing to do with.
In early September the State Department extended its travel alert for Europe through November 30 following terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, Spain; as well as in Turku, Finland. The alert, which had been issued in May and was originally set to run through September 1, warns that there is a continued threat of terrorist attacks throughout Europe, with extremists continuing to focus on tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets and shopping malls, and local government facilities, as well as other soft targets.
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