London killings: ‘It’s like a war zone. How did it come to this?’

The shooting and stabbing of a teenager in broad daylight on a street in Canning Town is just the latest chapter of what has become Britain's most violent gangland feud

Rachid has no idea what the future holds, apart from the certainty that he'll never visit east London's Canning Town. If I set foot there, I'll get stabbed." He has just turned 19, and two of his friends have already been murdered on the streets.

A trip to the nearest corner shop has become a daunting ordeal. You're constantly looking around, at the same time making sure you avoid looking at people. You don't know what can happen. Anything can," says the teenager, a former well-known gang affiliate who lives a seven-minute walk from Canning Town.