THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
An American woman was stabbed on March 9 close to GCHQ, the UK government’s spy center in Cheltenham, Gloucester according to a report in the Daily Mail.
The woman, who has not been named, is believed to be a US intelligence operative on secondment to GCHQ which works to identify and disrupt terror plots across the UK.
She was the only victim of the attack, which occurred at 9.15pm outside a leisure centre in the west of England town. She is said to have been sitting in a car in the facility’s car park when the assailant stabbed her. Despite being seriously wounded she managed to get out of the vehicle and raised the alarm with the sports centre’s staff. She was later reported to be in a stable condition in hospital following surgery.
The Daily Mailstated that local residents had suggested the victim may have known the suspect and claimed the pair were seen arguing in the car beforehand. A man from Cheltenham aged 29 was arrested immediately after the attack on suspicion of attempted murder, and re-arrested on Friday March 10 under the Terrorism Act. He remains in custody. Police have searched a property in the town connected to the suspect.
Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone of Gloucestershire Constabulary, said: “I would like to reassure those living locally or visiting the county that we believe this was an isolated incident and we are not aware of any wider threat to members of the public. We are working closely with our partners in Counter Terrorism Policing. We appreciate that an incident of this nature may be concerning and we would encourage people to contact us via 101 with any additional information they may have about the incident.”
A spokesperson for GCHQ declined to comment.
