London records 13th knife killing

LONDON, July 4 (UPI) -- Thirteen people have died of knife wounds in London so far this year, with the latest being a 16-year-old boy slain this week, police said.

Shakilus Townsend allegedly was fatally stabbed during a conflict with gang members Thursday, The Times of London reported Friday. He was the city's eighteenth teenager lost to violent crime in 2008.

Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons, who is heading up the investigation into Townsend's death, said the attack represented yet another tragedy for the British city.

"This is another senseless incident in which a young life has been taken away by a knife," the Metropolitan Police Homicide and Serious Crime Command official said.

The killing comes in the wake of three knife deaths Sunday, including the brutal slayings of two French students who investigators say suffered multiple knife wounds.

The Times said a Tunisian national was fatally stabbed Monday elsewhere in London, while a 28-year-old suffered fatal knife wounds during an attack in the British capital Tuesday.