Police have said they know the identities of the London Bridge attackers who killed seven people and injured 48, andwill release their names 'as soon as operationally possible'.

Three men drove a white van which hit several pedestrians, before leaving the vehicle and stabbing a number of people in nearby Borough Market on Saturday night, before armed officers shot all three suspects within eight minutes of receiving the first emergency call.

This morning, Metropolitan police officers searched two addresses in east London and said a 'number of people' had been detained following raids in Newham and Barking.

The fast-moving developments came after 12 people were arrested in Barking on Sunday following raids at a flat that is believed to be the home of one of the attackers. A 55-year-old man has been released without charge.

Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said this morning that a 'huge amount' of forensic material and evidence had been seized from the van and police raids.

The so-called Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, the first victim has been named as Canadian national Chrissy Archibald. A French national was also killed, according to foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

The details emerged as Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning that he disagreed with those who argue that such attacks have nothing to do with religion.

'We have to say that if something is happening in our own faith tradition, we must take responsibility for being very, very clear in countering it,' he said.

'Long term, I would say it's global, it's generational and it's ideological,' he added.

The Archbishop also said that one of the 'issues' with Islam is its lack of clear structure. 'I would say...from an outside perspective one of the issues about dealing with Islam is there isn't a structure with a pope or bishops and archbishops that you can go to and say these are the leaders so there will always be particular groups that may take views that are different to the mainstream,' he said.

But Welby praised the 'extraordinary' level of condemnation among 'every single' Muslim leader that 'we know'.

He also criticised the 'very high level of lack of religious literacy' among some faith figures. 'One of the problems in this country is a very high level of lack of religious literacy by those who have to take responsibility for countering these things,' Welby said.

Pope Francis over the weekend said he was praying for victims of the London attack. 'May the Holy Spirit grant peace to the whole world,' Pope Francis said, according to Vatican Radio. 'May He heal the wounds of war and of terrorism, which even this [Saturday] night, in London, struck innocent civilians: let us pray for the victims and their families.'

Cardinal Vincent Nichols tweeted: 'All involved in disturbing and violent incidents in #LondonBridge #BoroughMarket and #Vauxhall are in my prayers this night.'

The attacks came just days before voting is due on Thursday in the general election. Campaigning began again in earnest today, though the statement given outside Number Ten yesterday by Theresa May, the Prime Minister, provoked some political reaction last night.

May said that 'enough is enough' and there had been 'far too much tolerance of extremism' in the UK, and outlined the need for fresh security measures.

However, Labour's shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said that this had provoked a 'debate' and last night the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, attacked May. He criticised her record as Home Secretary in claiming that the Police Federation were 'crying wolf' over police cuts, and hit out at the Government's close relations with Saudi Arabia. Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, today also attacked May's record on police numbers and claimed that the Prime Minister had made the 'wrong choices' on security.

The issue of security now looks set to dominate the final stretch of election campaigning.

Yesterday, Welby preached a powerful sermon at Holy Trinity church, Folkstone, saying: 'The strongest power in the world is the love of Jesus Christ. It is more powerful than the evil of terror or the profound wickedness of the terrorist. It is invisible to most rulers, it is unheard-of by most communicators; it has no Twitter account, it does not show up on Facebook but it has overcome more nations than the greatest armies, changed more lives than the finest orators and communicators, drawn more people into true community than all the social media there is, has been or ever could be.'

Southwark Cathedral, which remains closed following the attack, has posted reaction and a special prayer on its website.

The acting Bishop of London, Pete Broadbent, spoke on BBC London, saying that Christians' response should be to pray and 'seek the peace of our city' and insisted churches would remain open for prayer rather than closing because of security fears. Asked 'where was God?, he replied: 'God is always there in the mess. We have a faith which believes in a Jesus who was crucified in the midst of mess and who understands suffering. We don't understand why it happened, we have huge sympathy, we send our condolences for those who have been killed and to their families and for those who have been injured. But God is there in the messy bits because that's the sort of God he is.'