Nine people are now in custody over Wednesday’s rampage in Westminster, in which at least 50 people were injured, 31 requiring hospital treatment, counter-terrorism commander Mark Rowley said.

Police have searched 16 addresses, with five more raids still underway, mainly in London and the central city of Birmingham, where the attacker reportedly lived and near where he rented the car used in the assault.

The police officer also revealed the attacker’s birth name as Adrian Russell Ajao, after naming him Thursday as Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old who used “a number of aliases” and had a history of violent offences but no terrorist convictions.

The Islamic State group claimed the assailant behind Britain’s deadliest terror attack in 12 years was one of its “soldiers” acting on a call to target countries in the US-led coalition fighting the jihadists.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said that Masood was known to intelligence services as a “peripheral” figure some years ago but there was no warning of his intention to mount an attack.

Rowley said Friday that police were trying to establish whether Masood acted totally alone “or if others have encouraged, supported or directed him”.

Masood ran over dozens of pedestrians and tourists on Westminster Bridge on Wednesday afternoon before crashing his car into parliament, where he managed to stab a police officer before being shot dead.

Lawmakers returned to work as normal on Thursday morning, even as forensic officers worked at the scene, but a review of parliamentary security is now underway.

Hundreds of people gathered in nearby Trafalgar Square late Thursday for a vigil led by Mayor Sadiq Khan who vowed that “Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism.”

Numerous aliases

The death toll rose late Thursday after life support was withdrawn from a 75-year-old man injured in the attack, whom police named as Leslie Rhodes from south London.

The other victims were 48-year-old policeman Keith Palmer and, on the bridge, a 43-year-old British woman, Aysha Frade, who was on her way to pick up her two daughters, and an American citizen in his 50s, Kurt Cochran.

Police earlier said that five men and three women aged between 21 and 58 were arrested “on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts”. One woman was later released on bail.

Rowley gave no details of the new arrests, only to say that they took place in the West Midlands — the area of the country that includes Birmingham — and the north-west of England.

Born in Kent in southeast England, Masood was a British citizen with convictions for assault and possession of offensive weapons dating from 1983 to 2003.

According to The Sun tabloid, he married a Muslim woman in 2004 and moved the following year to Saudi Arabia to teach, returning in 2009.

Police said he went by numerous aliases, including, reportedly, Adrian Elms, while reports suggest he lived all over England, including in Luton and east London.

He was described as “a nice guy” by Iwona Romek, a former neighbour in Birmingham, who told the Birmingham Mail: “He had a wife, a young Asian woman and a small child who went to school.”

Rowley said police were “looking at his history” and appealed for any public information about him, adding: “Our investigation focuses on understanding his motivation, preparation and associates.”

The crowds at Trafalgar Square late Thursday brought messages of defiance, flags and flowers, and offered their condolences to officers who lost a colleague in the attack.

Naveed Mirza, a Muslim student, said he had received “overwhelming” support since the attack described by police as “Islamist-related terrorism”.

“We have come to say how, as Muslims, we unequivocally condemn all the violent actions that took place yesterday,” he told AFP.

First IS claim of British attack

The IS group said it was responsible, according to the Amaq propaganda agency, its first claim of an attack on British soil.

The latest attack had echoes of the atrocities in Nice and Berlin when trucks ploughed into crowds of people, killing 86 people in the French Riviera city in July and 12 at a market in the German capital just days before Christmas.

The assault on Westminster was the deadliest in Britain since four suicide bombers killed 52 people on the city’s transport system in July 2005.

A defiant May had told the reopened parliament that Britain’s resolve “will never waver in the face of terrorism,” as MPs stood heads bowed for a minute’s silence in remembrance of the victims.

Britain’s last terror attack was the 2016 assassination of MP Jo Cox by a pro-Nazi sympathiser shortly before the historic but deeply divisive June vote to leave the EU.

In 2013, British soldier Lee Rigby was run down and knifed on a London street to death by two Islamist extremists.//AFP

The attack near the UK Parliament resulted in four deaths and many other injuries.

“On behalf of the Royal Thai Government and the people, I wish to express my profound condolences and heartfelt sympathies to Your Excellency and, through you, to the bereaved families of those who were affected by this dreadful event.

“In this hour of anguish, our thoughts and prayers are with the British people. Thailand as a friend of the United Kingdom, stands with the international community in the global fight against all forms of violence and terrorism.”

Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai expressed shocked on the deadly attack near the House of Parliament in London on March 12.

In his condolence note to Boris Johnson, his British counterpart, Don said, “I am profoundly shocked and saddened to learn of the deadly attack near the House of Parliament in London, resulting in the loss of innocent lives.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families affected by this dreadful event. In this moment of bereavement, I would like to extend my deepest sympathy and condolences to Your Excellency and the British People and especially to the bereaved families of the victims.”

Thailand as a friend of the United Kingdom remains committed to cooperate with the British Government and the International Community to fight against all forms of terrorism, Don said.

The jihadist claim came as armed police arrested eight people in raids over the attack on the symbol of Britain’s democracy that left three dead and sowed panic in the heart of London.

“An act of terrorism tried to silence our democracy,” a defiant Prime Minister Theresa May told a packed House of Commons, which stood for a minute’s silence in remembrance of the victims.

“We are not afraid and our resolve will never waver in the face of terrorism,” May said.

IS said it was responsible, according to the Amaq propaganda agency linked to the group, the first time the jihadists have claimed an attack on British soil.

“The perpetrator of yesterday’s attack in front of the British parliament was a soldier of the Islamic State and the operation was carried out in response to calls to target coalition countries,” Amaq said citing a “security source.”

Britain is a member of the US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria that the jihadist group has urged its followers to target.

Barely 24 hours later, Belgian police arrested a man as he tried to drive into a crowd at high speed in a shopping area in the port city of Antwerp.

The London carnage was unleashed the same day Brussels marked the first anniversary of bombings that killed 32 people and were also claimed by IS.

In the British parliament, defiant lawmakers returned to “business as usual” in the surreal silence of an area in the heart of London normally thronged with tourists.

Hundreds of extra police were on patrol as officers worked around the clock to piece together what happened in the deadliest attack in Britain since four suicide bombers killed 52 people on the capital’s transport system in July 2005.

Wednesday’s attacker mowed down pedestrians with a car along Westminster Bridge — a busy traffic route and popular tourist spot with views of parliament and the Big Ben clock tower.

He then rammed the railings outside parliament and jumped out of the car, stabbing to death a police officer before being shot dead.

The other victims were a 43-year-old mother and a man in his 50s.

Twenty-nine people were treated in hospital, including seven in critical condition, some with “catastrophic” injuries. Among them were French school children and foreign tourists.

Europe has been on high alert after a wave of deadly jihadist assaults over the past two years.

May said the attacker’s identity was known to police and the MI5 domestic intelligence service although she did not name him.

He was British-born and some years ago had been a “peripheral figure” investigated over concerns about violent extremism.

“There was no prior intelligence of his intent — or of the plot,” May said.

‘Acted alone’

Top anti-terror officer Mark Rowley said police arrested eight people in raids on six houses in London, the central city of Birmingham and elsewhere.

“It is still our belief… that this attacker acted alone yesterday and was inspired by international terrorism,” he said.

Press Association photos believed to be of the knifeman lying on a stretcher showed a burly man with black clothes and a beard.

Rowley acknowledged that Muslim communities “will feel anxious at this time” after previous extreme right-wing attacks and said police would work with community leaders to ensure protection.

The British flag over parliament flew at half-mast while forensic officers in white suits carried out a search of the courtyard outside where 48-year-old policeman Keith Palmer was slain.

“My thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathy are with all those who have been affected by yesterday’s awful violence,” Queen Elizabeth II said, expressing her “enduring admiration” for the police.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has called a candlelit vigil later Thursday. Britain’s last terror attack was the 2016 assassination of MP Jo Cox by a pro-Nazi sympathiser shortly before the historic but deeply divisive vote to leave the EU.

That vote has triggered a push in Scotland for a second independence referendum but the parliament in Edinburgh this week postponed a debate and vote on the issue.

The debate is now due to resume Tuesday, the day before Britain is to trigger the Article 50 two-year EU divorce process.

Tourists among injured

A Spanish diplomatic source confirmed that one of the dead was 43-year-old British citizen Aysha Frade, whose mother was Spanish.

Media reports said she was on her way to pick up her two daughters, aged seven and nine, from school.

Several foreign tourists visiting one of London’s most iconic sights were also caught up in the violence.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault travelled to London to visit three French pupils on a school trip who were among those hurt.

Three police officers were among those hurt and a seriously injured woman was rescued from the river after coming off the bridge.

What happened?

At around 2:40 pm (1440 GMT), the attacker rammed a car along the pavement on Westminster Bridge, a busy traffic route that is also a popular tourist spot with its views of parliament and its Big Ben clock tower.

After ploughing down several people on the bridge, the attacker crashed the car into the railings outside parliament and then tried to enter the building, stabbing a policeman with a large knife. Armed officers shot the attacker dead.

In total the assailant killed three people during the rampage: two members of the public and the stabbed police officer. Authorities revised down the toll after earlier saying the attacker had killed four people.

Some 40 people were wounded, including five South Korean tourists, two Romanians, a Portuguese man and three French schoolchildren.

Britain’s top counter-terror officer Mark Rowley told journalists on Wednesday that police suspect “Islamist-related terrorism”.

Seven people were arrested in armed raids early Thursday, including in London and second city Birmingham.

How did authorities respond?

Parliament was swiftly put on lockdown during the attack and lawmakers and staff confined to the building for several hours.

Police cordoned off a large area around the parliament in Westminster, shutting the bridge and nearest Underground station, as emergency vehicles swarmed the area.

Prime Minister Theresa May, who was in parliament at the time of the attack, was rushed out of the building by car. After chairing a meeting of the government’s COBRA emergencies committee, she described the attack as “sick and depraved” and confirmed that Britain would maintain its terror threat level at “severe”.

A police spokesman said extra officers would be put on patrol in London and urged the public to be vigilant.

Defiant lawmakers said parliament would meet as usual on Thursday.

What is known about the attacker?

The attacker has not yet been named but Rowley said investigators believe they know his identity.

Press Association news agency photos, believed to be of the attacker lying on an ambulance stretcher, showed a burly, bearded man wearing black clothes.

Has anything like this happened in London before?

London’s transport system was hit by four co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks in July 2005 that left 52 people dead, carried out by British attackers inspired by Al-Qaeda terror network. There was an attempted second wave of attacks two weeks later.

In 2013, two Islamic extremists killed soldier Lee Rigby on a London street by hitting him with a car before attempting to behead him.

Last August, a paranoid schizophrenic knifeman who tried to behead a commuter in a London Underground station in an Islamic State-inspired attack was sentenced to life behind bars.

In terms of attacks on parliament, Airey Neave — the shadow Northern Ireland Secretary and a close friend of Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher — was killed by an Irish National Liberation Army car bomb in the House of Commons car park.

The latest incident comes with Europe on high alert after a series of deadly jihadist attacks, including the Brussels bombings exactly a year ago on March 22, 2016.//AFP

They spent seven days, 20 hours and 42 minutes in the space and successfully landed on earth after making 124 full circles around the planet.

This was the first-ever space flight in the history of Mongolian people. Gurragchaa Jugderdemid is the first Mongolian to fly to the space and the second Asian cosmonaut.

He had been trained in Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center in the former Soviet Union, as a pilot of Soyuz spaceship along with his countryman M.Ganzorig.