Britain suspends election campaigning after London terror attack

The party said it "will not be campaigning nationally today. We will review as the day goes on and as more details of the attack emerge," a spokesman told AFP.

The comments came just hours after a deadly attack left at least six people dead and 48 others hospitalised when a van rammed pedestrians shortly before three assailants began stabbing random civilians in the heart of the city.

"They were stabbing everyone. They were running up and going 'This is for Allah'," a man called Gerard told the BBC, adding that he had seen the assailants stabbing a girl and had tried to confront them.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack on London, however this is the second time the July 8 election have been suspended due to a terror attack on British soil.

Last week, Britain's political parties set aside their differences after an Islamic State-claimed terror attack left 22 dead in Manchester.

The Manchester-born IS militant Salman al-Abedi, a university dropout, grew up in a Libyan family that reportedly fled to the northwestern English city to escape the now-fallen regime of Libyan dictator Moamer Gaddafi.

Libyan officials said he and his brother Hashem belonged to the Islamic State group, while their father Ramadan once belonged to a now-disbanded militant group with alleged ties to al-Qaeda. 

Libya said it was working closely with Britain to identify possible "terrorist networks" involved, while a British official said that Abedi had been on the intelligence radar before the massacre.