Buckingham Palace attacker wielding 4ft sword 'deliberately' drove at police shouting 'Allahu Akbar'

The Buckingham Palace attacker deliberately drove at a police van and repeatedly yelled 'Allahu Akbar' while reaching for a 4ft sword, the Metropolitan Police said on Saturday.

The 26-year-old was arrested outside the palace on Friday night after a struggle in which three male officers sustained injuries.

Two of the officers were taken by ambulance to hospital with minor cuts and discharged a short time later. The third officer did not require hospital treatment.

"A car deliberately drove at a police van and stopped in front of it in a restricted area on Constitution Hill near Buckingham Palace. The officers, who were unarmed police constables and from Westminster borough, got out of the van and approached the car, a blue Toyota Prius. As they challenged the driver, who was the only occupant in the car, he reached for what we now know to be a four-foot sword which was in the front passenger foot well," Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

The attacker was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 at the scene on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and assault on police. He remains in custody at a central London police station.

"The incident is being treated as terrorism but we will remain open minded while the investigation continues," under the Terrorism Act 2000," the statement added.