Police services and investigators are still piecing together information about the series of violent attacks that have left seven people dead and over 40 injured in London on Saturday night. The incident was ruled a terrorist attack shortly after midnight, with the group calling themselves the Islamic State claiming responsibility.

The attacks began around 10 p.m. London time when there were reports of a white work van driving into several pedestrians on London Bridge and crashing into a nearby pub. According to witnesses at the scene, the attackers then exited the vehicle wearing what appeared to be explosive devices on their persons. The attackers then shifted their focus to outside of a busy night market in order to chase and maximize casualties via stabbing.

Among those injured in the attack are a British Transport Police officer and an off-duty Metropolitan Police officer. Both remain in the hospital for treatment of serious injuries but neither are believed to be in a critical condition.

Raids by the London Metropolitan Police in the Barking neighborhood have brought in over a dozen suspects tied to the attackers, as Prime Minister Theresa May asks for stronger laws against terrorism and redoubled investigation efforts as Britain has suffered its third terror attack in as many months.

In March, a similar vehicular attack near the Houses of Parliament in Westminster claimed the lives of seven. This attack also comes off the heels of the devastating May 22 Manchester Arena attacks outside an Ariana Grande concert.

"Defeating this ideology is one of the great challenges of our time, but it cannot be defeated by military intervention alone," Prime Minister May said in a speech Monday. "It will not be defeated by the maintenance of a permanent defensive counter-terrorism operation, however skillful its leaders and practitioners."

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