Photos released of the London attackers’ fake explosive belts

The Metropolitan Police in London have released images of the fake explosive belts worn by the London Bridge attackers.

The belts, which had three water bottles with duct tape stuck to them, were worn by the three men who launched an attack in the centre of London last Saturday night. They killed eight people and injured many others before they were shot dead by police. The images of the three belts have been released to the public this morning. Commenting on the belts, Commander Dean Haydon said:

"I have not seen this tactic in the UK before where terrorists create maximum fear by strapping fake explosives to themselves. Anyone who saw them on the night would have thought they were genuine. It is hard to speculate what the motive was for wearing the belts. It could be that they had plans to take the attack in to a siege situation or it might be that they saw it as protection from being shot themselves. It makes the bravery of those police officers and members of the public who tackled the terrorists even more remarkable. The belt would have been visible to them and if you are fighting back or aiming a shot at someone wearing the device you would clearly be very aware that you could be caught in an explosion."