Source: PressTV

Images of a horrifying knife crime in Britain have surfaced online showing thugs wielding machete attacking a young man in the second largest city of Birmingham.

Tabloid newspapers published the video on their websites on Tuesday, showing violent scenes of an attack in broad daylight in Birmingham where a group of attackers chased, kicked and slashed a young victim with machetes in front of passer-bys.

The newspapers ran headlines like “lawless Britain” or “bloodbath Britain” to highlight the attack which comes amid a surge in violent knife crimes and other methods of brutal attack in Britain’s large cities.

The video showed at least seven young men, most of them covering their heads and faces, pouncing a young man beside a road while the traffic drove past.

Two long machetes and a hammer could be seen used by the thugs in the footage which many believe is related to an attack in Birmingham’s Perry Barr area that took place around noon a day earlier.

The West Midlands Police have yet to comment on the brutal incident which has shocked many across the United Kingdom.

The police force posted a tweet on Monday saying they had arrested two men on suspicion of possessing offensive weapons. Two hammers and a machete had also been recovered from the suspects, the police said, although it was not clear whether the arrests were related to the gang attack.

Knife attacks have increased dramatically in Britain this year with the Sun newspaper saying that at least 250 people had been killed across the country as a result of the attacks since the start of 2018. Many more have also been injured, prompting the Home Office (interior ministry) to pledge more action on the crisis.

Some five people were killed in a six-day spate of knife crimes in London ending last week.

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan said after the fatal attacks that it would take Britain at least 10 years to stamp out knife crime.

Many blame the government and its cuts to police budget as a main reason for increase in the violence. They say understaffed police force in large cities like London have been unable to see to all emergencies. The government denies its austerity measures over the past years have had anything to do with the increase in the number of knife and acid attacks.