Counter-terrorism officers have arrested two men after a crude homemade bomb sent flames shooting through a packed carriage at west London’s Parsons Green underground station during the Friday morning rush hour, injuring 30 people although it apparently failed to detonate fully.
Following the attack, Amaq, the news agency of the Daesh terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
On Monday, five U.S. and British government sources said it was possible that the attack was somehow “inspired” by Daesh via its extensive array of internet-based propaganda and instruction materials.
But they said no evidence had emerged of any direct connection between the attack and Daesh, or any other organised terrorist group or faction.
“It doesn’t sound to me like a centrally directed plot,” one official said.
British police are questioning an 18-year-old man arrested in the departure lounge of the port of Dover on Saturday and another suspect, 21, detained hours later in the west London suburb of Hounslow.