There are no words that can condemn enough the bomb attacks in London on Thursday morning which were targeted at civilians with the aim of causing as much death and destruction as possible.

So far, the death toll stands at over 50, but there are many more hundreds who are injured and fighting for their lives in hospital beds. Make no mistake, these attacks which were supposedly organised by the Secret Group of al-Qaeda’s Jihad in Europe, were aimed at causing terror, maximum casualties and grinding London’s transport system to a halt.

The attacks were well coordinated and the timing was, from a terrorist’s point of view, flawless. Britain had just won the Olympic bid and after all the revelry, attention swung north to Gleneagles, Scotland for the G-8 summit and its accompanying protestors. The terrorists hit and they have hit hard.

Britain, of course, is no stranger to bombings. In the 1980s, the country was repeatedly targeted by the IRA, but the bombings were largely concentrated in Ulster and were, more often than not, targeted at military personnel. There was of course, the exception of the 1984 Brighton bombing, when the IRA tried to assassinate Margaret Thatcher and her government in the Grand Hotel.

There were also a few bombings which were targeted at minorities in the early 1990s, but these were one-off events perpetrated by loners.

The reaction in the UK has been typically British – stoicism and the stiff British upper lip. Anyone who watched Prime Minister Tony Blair’s address to the nation could read the body language – anger, frustration, sorrow but above all – defiance. Mr Blair said that the UK’s resolve to carry on with daily life was far superior and far stronger than that of terrorists.

And that was indeed the case. The British showed their resolve yesterday and although public transport and the city centre were quieter than usual, people returned to their jobs and defiantly caught their buses or underground trains where applicable.

By and large, the world’s reaction, especially from the US and Spain, is that such attacks on civilians are completely unprovoked and inexcusable. We agree with this presumption. Of course, the G8 protestors, and even dissident anti war MP George Galloway, have said that Britain invited these attacks by going to war against Afghanistan and Iraq. Such claims have been responded to by thorough roastings and one would have to agree. London was always a target. It was probably the next target after New York. The world seems to have forgotten that terrorist attacks have already been foiled in the UK – one to do with the production of the poison ricin. Britain simply stopped being vigilant and was hit where it hurts. What this attack will do is continue to harden British and US resolve to crack down on terrorism. No group has the right to kill ordinary civilians – whatever their cause. The British have prided themselves on being a truly multi-cultural society. We hope that there are no elements within British society that will lash out against the law-abiding British Muslim community. Muslim Council of Britain spokesman Inayat Bunglawala called on Muslims in Britain to remember the dead in their prayers. He also said that such horrific attacks would not divide a nation. “These terrorists, these evil people, want to demoralise us as a nation and divide us. All of us must unite in helping the police to hunt these murderers down,” he said with British pride.

The whole world must unite and Muslims especially must unite and rally against terrorism. That is the way – the only way – that progress will be made.