Two men have been arrested in connection with the brutal killing of a man in Woolwich, with the counter-terrorism unit set to oversee the investigation.A man, thought to be a British soldier, was hacked to death with a machete near the Royal Artillery Barracks in broad daylight in front of horrified onlookers.Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has now confirmed that two men have been arrested, with counter-terrorism officers leading the investigation into the ‘shocking and horrific’ murder.He said: ‘It is hard to comprehend the shocking and horrific scenes we have seen this afternoon on a busy street as Londoners went about their day as normal.‘We have launched a murder investigation, being led by the Counter Terrorism Command. Two men have been arrested in connection with that murder.’

News of the arrests came as a cub scout leader revealed she had confronted the attackers and urged them to put down their weapons.Ingrid Loyau-Kennett warned them: ‘It is only you versus many people, you are going to lose.’Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the 48-year-old mother of two also said one of the attackers had told her: ‘We want to start a war in London tonight.’

Following the attacks ITV News obtained footage of one of the alleged attackers, hands covered in blood, wielding a knife and meat cleaver.In the video he appeared to try to explain his actions, saying: ‘We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’An emergency Cobra meeting was held following ‘strong indications’ that the attack was a terrorist incident, resulting in tightened security at Woolwich barracks and all other London barracks.

Prime minister David Cameron, in Paris to meet with French president François Hollande, described the killing as ‘sickening’ before flying back to London.‘Tonight, our thoughts should be with the victim, with their family, with their friends,’ he said.‘People across Britain, people in every community, I believe, will utterly condemn this attack.‘We have had these sorts of attacks before in our country and we never buckle in the face of them.’A statement from the Muslim Council of Britain said the attack had ‘no basis in Islam’.The statement added: ‘We understand the victim is a serving member of the Armed Forces. Muslims have long served in this country’s Armed Forces, proudly and with honour.’

A cub scout leader has told how she confronted knife-wielding terrorists just moments after they had hacked a soldier to death.Mother-of-two Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 48, was one of the first on the scene after the two men had butchered the victim.Mrs Loyau-Kennett noticed the soldier lying on the floor while on a bus and jumped off to check his pulse – but soon realised he was dead.She told the Daily Telegraph: ‘And then when I went up there was this black guy with a revolver and a kitchen knife, he had what looked like butcher’s tools and he had a little axe, to cut the bones, and two large knives and he said “move off the body”.’

View the whole gallery: Man killed in Woolwich attack

‘I thought these people usually have a message so I said ‘what do you want?’ She claimed he told her: ‘We want to start a war in London tonight.’She added: ‘I asked him if he did it and he said yes and I said why?‘And he said because he has killed Muslim people in Muslim countries, he said he was a British solider and I said really and he said “I killed him because he killed Muslims and I am fed up with people killing Muslims in Afghanistan they have nothing to do there.’

Warning: Video contains graphic content

If smiling is indeed infectious, here’s one you’ll catch hook, line and sinker.This little rare Axolotl salamander has a lot to smile about- not least because it’s escaped the pollution that’s seen most of its brothers and sisters wiped out back home in the waters off Mexico.The species is near extinction out in the wild due to the pollution back home and the fact they are widely regarded as a tasty delicacy.The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s annual Red List of threatened species lists only two lakes still known to have specimens.This one is the main attraction at an Aquaria Fun Park in  Steinerkirchen an der Traun, Austria.But this fish is more than just a pretty face.They are prized by scientists for their ability to grow new limbs when they are severed.The Axolotl can not only fully regenerate limbs but also internal organs, including it’s spine and part of its brain.It is thought the fish could eventually hold the key to human limb regeneration.