Outside the Beltway

London Terrorists All Died in Attacks

James Joyner · Tuesday, July 12, 2005 · 3 comments

All four terrorists who set off bombs in London’s subways last week died in the attacks, according to several media sources.

Report: All Bombers Died in London Attacks (AP)

Police believe all four bombers who attacked trains and a bus in London died in the attacks, Sky News reported Tuesday, citing unidentified police sources. Detectives believe that all four were British citizens, Sky News said. Several news reports said police had concluded that the bomber who blasted a London bus was believed to be among the 13 dead in that incident. The current death toll from all the attacks is 52. Metropolitan Police refused to comment on the reports.

Sky News, the British Broadcasting Corp. and Press Association quoted sources as saying the identification of the bomber in Thursday’s attack led to the raids on several addresses in Leeds on Tuesday. Police refused to confirm the reports.

Some bus passengers who survived the blast reported seeing an agitated man rummaging in a rucksack. Terrorism experts have suggested for days that the bus attacker may have died in the blast he set off.

Police believe the three Underground trains were targeted by attackers who placed explosives with timers on board and then got off. Those bombs detonated within a minute of each other, but the No. 30 bus did not explode until nearly an hour later, leading many to suggest it might not have been the intended target. “This bombing is so curious in that it doesn’t seem to fit the pattern,” said Alex Standish, editor of Jane’s Intelligence Digest, speaking before the news reports. “It was later than all the others. … This would have appeared to be primarily an attack on the Underground system. … It just doesn’t fit.” Standish said he thought the bus bomber had meant to target a fourth subway train without killing himself but had either panicked or been unable to board.

While one wishes some had survived for possible intelligence extraction, there is a certain justice in their deaths.