Man charged in London subway station attack
LONDON — A man appeared in a court here Monday over a stabbing attack at a London subway station.
Muhaydin Mire, 29, is charged with attempted murder after a 56-year-old man was seriously injured at Leytonstone underground station in east London on Saturday. The wounded man's condition is not thought to be life-threatening.
Mire, of Sansom Road, east London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London and was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey, a higher court, on Friday.
Scotland Yard previously said they were treating the attack as a "terrorist incident."
The attacker allegedly shouted "this is for Syria," according to media reports, before being tasered and arrested by police. A bystander is heard shouting: "You ain't no Muslim bruv (brother)" at the assailant in video posted on social media.
Police said another man was slightly wounded and a woman was allegedly threatened by the attacker but not injured.
Mire is accused of slashing the victim's throat in front of bystanders, punching and kicking him and cutting a 5 inch wound in his neck, Britain's Press Association reported. The injured man spent five hours in surgery, the news agency said.
Images and flags associated with the Islamic State group were allegedly found on Mire's cellphone, as well as images relating to the Paris terror attacks of Nov. 13 and a police training exercise on how to deal with an active shooter, the Press Association reported.
The hashtag #YouAintNoMuslimBruv trended on Twitter following the incident.
Last month, Prime Minister David Cameron told the BBC that the country's security officials foiled seven terrorist attacks in the last six months.
His statement followed the Nov. 13 terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and injured hundreds. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for those attacks.
Britain started conducting airstrikes against the militants in Syria on Thursday, hours after the U.K. parliament backed the action, amid a request from French President François Hollande for its allies to do more to combat the extremists.