British police on Tuesday released the identity of the third London Bridge and Borough Market attacker as the investigation continues into the terror attack that left seven people dead, including a Canadian, and wounded dozens more.
Authorities released the name of Youssef Zaghba, 22, Tuesday morning, saying the man is believed to be an Italian national of Moroccan descent.
Metropolitan Police said in a statement Zaghba was not a “subject of interest” to police or MI5. On Monday, authorities named Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, and Rachid Redouane, 30, as the other two men who carried out the bloody rampage.
READ MORE: New search underway near home of London Bridge attackers
On Saturday, three men rammed a white van into pedestrians on London Bridge before carrying out a stabbing spree in the Borough Market. There, the terrorists slashed the throats of several people and randomly stabbed people enjoying a spring night out.
Canadian Christine Archibald, 30, was among those who were fatally struck on London Bridge, just steps away from her fiancé.
According to police, Butt was a British citizen born in Pakistan while Redouane had claimed to be Moroccan and Libyan. Redouane used the name Rachid Elkhdar.
Both men lived in Barking, east London while investigators only said Zaghba lived in east London.
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Though police said Zaghba was not a “subject of interest” to police or British intelligence, Italian media reported the attacker had been stopped at Italy’s Bologna airport in 2016. Citing Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Reuters reported Zaghba was stopped en route to Syria via Turkey. Italian authorities labelled him as a potential “foreign fighter” and notified British authorities about his planned movements.
According to the Associated Press, an Italian interior ministry official told the news agency both British and Moroccan intelligence officials were told Zaghba had been flagged as someone “at risk.”
Investigators arrested a 27-year-old man Tuesday at an address in Barking, and a search warrant was being executed.
Police noted the 12 people arrested Sunday following the attack have since been released without charges.
Butt worked for the London Underground for around six months, Transport for London officials told BBC News. He was a “trainee customer services assistant,” and he worked until October 2016.
Police said that Butt was previously known to them and MI5 but there was no intelligence to suggest he was planning an attack.
British newspaper The Independent identified Butt as one of the subjects in a British documentary dubbed The Jihadis Next Door. According to British tabloid The Sun, the British-born man and father of two, was recently tossed out of his mosque after ranting about the upcoming British election.
READ MORE: Here’s what we know about the London attackers
A neighbour of Butt told Reuters that he spoke with him just hours before the attack and he seemed “almost euphoric.”
“He was very sociable, seemed like an ordinary family man. He would always bring his kid out into the lobby,” Ikenna Chigbo said.
Another neighbour told Reuters that he was an Arsenal fan who showed no signs of radicalization.
Redouane was a pastry chef who used to live in Dublin, Ireland, the Guardian reports.
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Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said Monday that one of the attackers lived in Ireland for some time but was not known to police.
“There are a small number of people in Ireland who are being monitored and observed in respect of radicalization and matters relevant to that. In this case — these facts are being checked — my understanding is that this individual was not a member of this small group,” Kenny said in an interview with RTE.
An Irish identification card was found on the body of one of the three attackers, a Moroccan national in his late 20s who lived in Ireland with his British wife, RTE reported.
The Guardian newspaper also said the mother of Redouane’s 18-month-old daughter was arrested. Charisse O’Leary and Redouane were married, but she never converted to his religion. One acquaintance of the couple told the newspaper that they were recently separated. She has since been released.
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“I would urge anyone with information about these men, their movements in the days and hours before the attack and the places they frequented to come forward,” Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said. “The police and our partners are doing everything we can across the country to help prevent further attacks and protect the public from harm.”
The terrorists carried out the attack while wearing fake suicide vests. The so-called Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the carnage carried out by its “fighters.”
The three attackers were fatally shot by police within about 8 minutes of the first reported call of the attack, authorities said.
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British police also found what appeared to be Molotov cocktails in the back of the van used by the three militants, Sky News said on Monday, citing unnamed sources.
At least a dozen bottles filled with clear liquid, which had rags stuffed in their tops, were found in the back of the hired van, and police had treated them as though they were petrol bombs, Sky News said.
–with files from Reuters
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