UPDATE: London attacker identified as Khalid Masood, police

British police have identified Khalid Masood as the man behind the London attack. The 52-year-old was born in Kent and had been living in central England. He was known to police and has a range of previous convictions. Although there was no prior intelligence about his intent to mount a terrorist attack, the so-called Islamic State group claimed responsibility. It comes as the investigation gathers pace, with a string of arrests in raids around London and Birmingham. “It is still our belief, which continues to be borne out by our investigation, that this attacker acted alone and was inspired by international terrorism. Clearly the investigation is ongoing and developing all the time and we continue to focus on his motivation, his preparation and his associates,” said Head of UK Counter Terrorism, Mark Rowley. Prior to #WestminsterAttack Masood,52, was not subject of any current investigations & no intel about his intent to mount a terrorist attack— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) March 23, 2017 According to a statement by the prime minister, the attacker was a “peripheral figure, not part of the current intelligence picture”. The attack which saw a car ploughing into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, before the attacker stabbed a policeman as he tried to enter Parliament, is the deadliest assault on the capital in twelve years. The car which ploughed into pedestrians on Westminster bridge, has been confirmed as a rental from a company based in Birmingham. “An employee identified the vehicle after seeing the licence plate in an image online. We ran another check to verify, and immediately contacted the authorities. We are co-operating fully with the authorities and will provide any assistance that we can to the investigation,” said a spokesperson for Enterprise.