Man remanded after London 'terror' attack

A man has been remanded in custody following a "violent, sustained and unprovoked attack" at a London Underground station.

A 29-year-old man has appeared in court after being charged by counterterrorism officers with attempted murder following a knife attack at London Underground station.

Wearing a grey T-shirt and grey track suit bottoms, Muhaydin Mire of east London spoke only to confirm his name, age and address at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

A 56-year-old man was seriously injured in the attack at Leytonstone station on Saturday night, while a second person suffered minor injuries.

Prosecutor David Cawthorne said the attack happened while the victim was walking through the station.

"It was a violent, sustained and unprovoked attack during which the victim was punched, knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked on the ground," he said.

The victim suffered a 12cm wound to his neck and was in surgery for five hours, he said.

Mire was remanded in custody to appear at London's central criminal court, the Old Bailey, on Friday.

Britain is on its second-highest security alert level of "severe", meaning a militant attack is considered highly likely, though not imminent, mainly because of the threat posed by Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

Authorities say British security forces have thwarted seven terrorism plots in the past year.

Last week, British war planes joined air strikes for the first time against Islamic State fighters in Syria.

After the Paris attacks, which killed 130 people and were claimed by Islamic State militants, police in London said they had boosted the number of armed officers able to respond to any incidents.

Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Hanstock from the British Transport Police said the number of firearms teams had doubled in the last year and they had boosted the number of officers and patrols across the London Underground network in response to Saturday's stabbing.


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Source: AAP



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