An attack yesterday (May 22) at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester has killed at least 22 people and injured around 60 others. Police say that a lone suicide bomber appears to be responsible for the attack. Prime minster Theresa May has called it a “callous terrorist attack.” At the time of writing, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
It is the deadliest terror attack in Europe since July 2016, when a man drove a truck into crowds in Nice, France, killing 84. The Manchester incident is also the worst terror incident in the UK since July 2005, when coordinated bus and train bombings in London killed 52. In both of those cases, Islamist terror groups claimed responsibility for the attacks. The UK’s recent history with terrorism also includes sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, but the deadliest attacks in mainland Britain over the past decade or so were linked to other motives.
March 22, 2017
Five people were killed in London when an Islamist extremist drove a car into pedestrians before crashing into a barrier outside parliament and fatally stabbing a police officer inside the grounds.
June 16, 2016
Member of parliament Jo Cox was murdered in her constituency near Leeds just before the Brexit referendum. She was shot and stabbed by a rightwing extremist, who was given a life sentence for the murder.
March 4, 2016
Northern Ireland prison officer Adrian Ismay was killed by a bomb planted under his car in Belfast. The responsibility was claimed by the New Irish Republican Army, a sectarian group.
May 22, 2013
Two Islamic extremists murdered Lee Rigby, a 25-year-old army officer, in London. They rammed him with a car and then attempted to decapitate him. The attackers were jailed for life.
April 2, 2011
Northern Ireland policeman Ronan Kerr was killed by a bomb planted under his car outside his home near Omagh. The responsibility was claimed by a dissident group of former members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, a sectarian group.
June 30, 2007
Two Islamic extremists drove a car filled with petrol and propane tanks into the main terminal at the Glasgow airport. One of the attackers died in the incident and five people were injured.
July 7, 2005
Four suicide bombers attacked commuters in London, killing 52 and injuring hundreds. Three of the bombs were set off in Tube trains and one on a public bus during the morning rush hour.