This is undated three photo combo handout photo issued by the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday June 6, 2017 of Khuram Shazad Butt, left, Rachid Redouane, centre and Youssef Zaghba who have been named as the suspects in Saturday's attack at London Bridge. (Metropolitan Police via AP)
Pedestrians pass flowers on a memorial for victims at the London Bridge in London, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. British police on Tuesday named the third London Bridge attacker as an Italian national of Moroccan descent, and Italian officials said they had passed on their concerns about him to British intelligence officials last year. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
People look at floral tributes on London Bridge in London, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. British police on Tuesday named the third London Bridge attacker as an Italian national of Moroccan descent, and Italian officials said they had passed on their concerns about him to British intelligence officials last year. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A man looks at flowers on a memorial for victims at the London Bridge in London, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. British police on Tuesday named the third London Bridge attacker as an Italian national of Moroccan descent, and Italian officials said they had passed on their concerns about him to British intelligence officials last year. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Pedestrians pass flowers on a memorial for victims at the London Bridge in London, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. British police on Tuesday named the third London Bridge attacker as an Italian national of Moroccan descent, and Italian officials said they had passed on their concerns about him to British intelligence officials last year. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Women place bouquets of flowers on a memorial for victims at the London Bridge in London, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. British police on Tuesday named the third London Bridge attacker as an Italian national of Moroccan descent, and Italian officials said they had passed on their concerns about him to British intelligence officials last year. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A postcard is placed between flowers on a memorial for victims in the London Bridge area of London, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. British police on Tuesday named the third London Bridge attacker as an Italian national of Moroccan descent, and Italian officials said they had passed on their concerns about him to British intelligence officials last year. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Commuters walk across London Bridge, with new security barriers, after work in London, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. British police on Tuesday named the third London Bridge attacker as an Italian national of Moroccan descent, and Italian officials said they had passed on their concerns about him to British intelligence officials last year. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
Commuters walk across London Bridge, with new security barriers, after work in London, Tuesday, June 6, 2017. British police on Tuesday named the third London Bridge attacker as an Italian national of Moroccan descent, and Italian officials said they had passed on their concerns about him to British intelligence officials last year. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
LONDON — Details emerged Tuesday of the three London Bridge attackers: a Pakistan-born failed customer service clerk with links to one of Europe’s most prolific hate preachers, a Moroccan pastry chef whose partner said he once went swimming rather than see his daughter and an Italian man who told authorities he “wanted to be a terrorist.”
At least two of the men were known to British intelligence and law enforcement officials, raising questions about whether anything could have been done to stop the attack, which began Saturday when the men drove a rented van into a crowd and then leaped out to stab people who crossed their paths. All three of the attackers were shot dead by police.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it was fair to ask how the attackers “slipped through our net.”
Security has become a key issue in the run-up to Thursday’s general election. British security officials said none of the men was considered violent, but they acknowledged the difficulty of predicting whether extremists will turn dangerous.
The assault was the third attack in three months in which most of the assailants had been on authorities’ radar at some point. Pakistani intelligence authorities swooped Tuesday into the town of Jhelum, where Khurum Butt lived until the time he was 7. His cousin, 18-year-old Bilal Dar, said Butt’s uncle was taken in for questioning.
