TOKYO, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday condemned a deadly terror attack which took place in London, Britain, killing five people and wounding some 40 others.

Abe told a press briefing on the matter that acts of terror can never be tolerated and offered his condolences for those who died as a result of the attack.

Abe also expressed his sympathy to those wounded in the attack, which took place on Westminiser Bridge, not far from Britain's Houses of Parliament.

British police and local media said it was the deadliest attack in the country since July 2005, when coordinated suicide attacks took place in the capital killing 52 and injuring hundreds.

As reported here, police on the scene said an unknown assailant allegedly ploughed down pedestrians with his car on the Westminster Bridge and then went on to stab a police officer outside the Houses of Parliament. The policemen later died from his injuries.

The attacker was then shot dead by police officers. Four others were killed in the attack.

The attack in London comes exactly one year after more than 30 people were killed in Brussels by coordinated suicide bombings at the Brussels Airport in Zaventem and at the Maalbeek metro station in central Brussels. The bombings were the deadliest terror attacks in Belgium's history.

The so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks in Brussels.

London police said they are treating the latest attack as a terrorist incident, until evidence proves otherwise, local reports here quoted the officers as saying.

Abe said he stands by his British counterpart Prime Minister Theresa May as well as the people of Britain, adding that Japan will unite in holding hands with Britain and the broader international community to fight terrorism.