A man has died and two are injured after police responded to a reported machete attack in south-east London.The government is reported to be treating the attack as a suspected terrorist incident and the prime minister said it was "truly shocking".
Eyewitnesses said a man was assaulted in a Woolwich street by two individuals who were later shot by officers.
Local MP Nick Raynsford said the dead man was a soldier at Woolwich barracks but this has not been confirmed.
Home Secretary Theresa May has summoned a meeting of the government's emergency response committee Cobra to assess the incident.
It is understood she has also requested updates from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, and the head of MI5.
Whitehall sources have told the BBC it is "a fair supposition" that the incident was a terrorist incident but police have not commented publicly on the suggestion.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the police view is that the attack may have been filmed and footage may exist.
People carrying out the attack were heard to say Allahu Akbar [God is Great], said our political editor.
On Twitter, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson described the attack as a "sickening deluded and unforgivable act of violence".