Does the grotesque killing of a soldier in London mean we are now facing a new type of terror threat? STUART ARNOLD reports.

It was shocking in the extreme. A British soldier, named as Drummer Lee Rigby, was going about his normal business before he was run over by a car and butchered in the street by two men, apparently in the name of Allah, the God of Islam.

While police and the security services begin to piece together in detail Wednesday afternoon’s events in Woolwich, questions are now being asked about what this means for the UK and the safety of its citizens.

Is it a so-called “lone wolf” attack or could others be plotting similar assaults? Should the Government now be less focused on preventing large-scale bomb attacks involving terrorists of the kind we have become sadly familiar with and revise its contingency plans appropriately?

Jeffrey DeMarco, a lecturer in criminology at Kingston University, who has researched the evolution of terrorism, says the attack is a “reminder of the dynamic nature” that a terrorist act can take.

“I believe society needs to realise that mass casualties as a result of terrorist attacks are not necessarily the end game. The epidemic of fear bestowed by an unsuspected entity can be just as damaging,” he says.

Dr Christina Hellmich, an expert on al-Qaeda and international terrorism at the University of Reading, says the Woolwich incident is likely to be the kind of attack we will see in the future.

“If what we saw in Woolwich was indeed an Islamist-inspired attack, it bears much in common with the concept of the ‘individualised jihad’, which has been propagated by radical Islamists for many years. But while these attacks are truly awful and are likely to be the kind of attack we face in years to come, this does not indicate to me that we face a new 'wave of terror'.

“Calls for individualised jihad [meaning an Islamic holy war against non believers] by individuals in their home countries is nothing new. Such ideas have been widely circulating since 2010 and fortunately few have taken it up. The odd people who do are the exception rather than the norm, and I do not see that changing in the wake of this event in London.

“Whether such activities became influential is largely down to the reaction of the rest of society. The real danger lies in the emotions that this evokes in Britain, stirring up anti-Muslim sentiments, provoking fear, and adding apparent weight to the arguments of those who wish to implement ever more dramatic counter-terrorism measures.”

Counter-terrorism expert Richard Barrett, who has served with MI5 and MI6, believes the killing of the soldier was done for effect.

“The way that the perpetrators hung about and wanted to be arrested and also explain what they were doing in the form a video fits a pattern of people who want to send a message. Therefore the idea that this may be terrorism-inspired by some of sort of religious extremist belief is quite possible,” he says.

“We certainly haven’t seen much of this in terms of attacks on armed service personnel in the UK before.”

Matthew Henman, a senior analyst at IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, agrees that the fact the attackers made no attempt to flee the scene of the killing, combined with their interaction with bystanders, indicates an effort to maximise publicity of the attack.

“The reported attempt to attack the police who responded may well have been in the expectation that they would be shot dead, perhaps with the aim that they would thereby be considered martyrs within the wider militant Islamist community. However as yet there has been no indication of any links between the attackers and an established group, militant Islamist or otherwise,” he says.

“It may well be that they were self-radicalised ‘lone wolves’, although their backgrounds and profiles need to be established.”

Security expert Simon Bennett, director of the Civil Safety and Security Unit at the University of Leicester, says this is the first attack on service personnel linked to an Islamic fundamentalist agenda.

“In that sense it’s a new departure, but it’s also important to keep a sense of history. The key point to make is that the armed services have received this sort of attention in the past, going back to the provisional IRA and are well aware of this kind of threat.”

John O’Connor, a former commander of the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad, says the murder is a departure from what he calls “established types” of terrorism causing mass murder.

“Unfortunately there is also no way of knowing whether it is a one-off incident or not. The bottom line is that similar attacks could spring up anywhere without warning and that is the concern. It is very difficult to keep tabs on where this is going and what the threat level is.

“Individuals within the armed forces will be briefed as to how to protect themselves and it does look like we are into a new round of terror threats.”

Whatever the expert view, what is clear is that there is only a limited amount the authorities can do from preventing an attack without warning, in broad daylight and with blades and bare hands. And that is a worrying thought indeed.