17 June – 23 June: Attack by Libyan claimed to be terrorist act

Jun 24, 2020 | Other Jihadi Actors

On 20 June, a 25-year old Libyan national named Khairi Saadallah was arrested in the UK after stabbing multiple people in a park in Reading, leaving three victims dead. He was initially arrested on suspicion of murder, but he has now been rearrested under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Saadallah had reportedly been granted asylum in the UK and had previously been in prison for a relatively minor offence, not a terrorism conviction. Saadallah was reportedly on the radar of the M15 as of last year as a person who might travel abroad “for extremist reasons”, but the inquiry was closed relatively quickly without any action taken as no genuine threat or immediate risk was identified. He is believed to have mental health problems. There is no evidence at present that this attack was linked to Islamic State or al-Qaeda or other terrorist organisations.