In the aftermath of the Belgian terrorist attack a year ago, the world learned of the Brussels district of Molenbeek. After the March 22 attack in the heart of London, we may hear more about Birmingham.
The London attacker, identified by U.K. police as a 52-year-old career petty criminal named Khalid Masood, rented the Hyundai he used to mow down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in Birmingham, where he apparently resided.
The Birmingham connection isn't a big surprise. A report released this month called it one of Britain's terrorist capitals. Between 1998 and 2015, there were 269 people convicted of offenses related to Islamic terrorism or killed in suicide bomb attacks in the United Kingdom. Nearly a fifth came from the West Midlands, which includes Birmingham, and 39 came from Birmingham itself. The city's Hall Green area is well-known to police and counter-terrorism officials.