British police arrest two more over London terrorist attack

Two more people have been arrested in connection with a terrorist attack in central London this week that left five dead, police said.

The overnight arrests bring the total of people in custody to nine, London Metropolitan Police said today.

The attacker, identified as Khalid Masood, rammed a car into pedestrians on the capital's busy Westminster Bridge on Wednesday.

He then fled on foot, stabbing police officers who were patrolling the grounds of the British parliament, before being shot dead.

The death toll rose to five late yesterday after a 75-year-old man died of his injuries in hospital.

A policeman who died from his stab wounds and the attacker are also included in the death toll.

Also killed were a US citizen celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife and British woman of Spanish origin.

Masood, a British-born man who had several convictions and used several aliases, was born Adrian Russell Ajao, police said.

The Islamic State extremist group has claimed that Masood was one of its "soldiers".

- dpa