British police on Thursday declared that the deadly assault outside a synagogue near Manchester was a terrorist attack, after an assailant drove a car into worshippers and began stabbing people on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Two people were killed and three others seriously wounded.
Greater Manchester Police said officers shot and killed the suspect, though it took time to confirm his death amid fears he was carrying explosives. The Metropolitan Police, which leads counter-terrorism operations in the UK, confirmed the incident was being treated as terrorism.
Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the country’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, told reporters that police believe they know the attacker’s identity. He also confirmed two arrests linked to the attack, though no details were given.
The attack unfolded at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in a suburban neighborhood of Manchester shortly after 9.30 am, as services were beginning. Witnesses said a car rammed into the synagogue gates before the driver emerged with a knife.
Chava Lewin, who lives nearby, said she first thought a bang she heard was a firework. “The second he got out of the car, he started stabbing anyone near him. He went for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue,” she said.
Video circulating on social media showed armed police surrounding a man lying on the ground near the synagogue. Bystanders could be heard shouting that the suspect had a bomb and was attempting to detonate it. Officers fired again when the man tried to rise, police said. Authorities later carried out a controlled explosion on the suspect’s car.
The assault triggered “Plato,” the UK’s emergency code-word for a marauding terror attack, and prompted heightened security at synagogues nationwide.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who cut short his trip to a European summit in Copenhagen to convene the government’s emergency committee, condemned the violence. “The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” he said on X.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla said they were “deeply shocked and saddened” by the attack. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this appalling incident and we greatly appreciate the swift actions of the emergency services,” the monarch said in a statement.
The attack comes amid rising antisemitic incidents across the UK in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 assault on Israel and the ensuing conflict in Gaza. Advocacy group Community Security Trust reported more than 1,500 antisemitic incidents in the first half of this year, the second-highest on record.
“This is every rabbi’s or every Jewish person’s worst nightmare,” said Rabbi Jonathan Romain of Maidenhead Synagogue. “Not only is this a sacred day, the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, but it’s also a time of mass gathering.”
Manchester was also the site of Britain’s deadliest terror attack in recent years, when a suicide bomber killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in 2017.
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