LONDON: Britain’s top counter-terrorism police officer Mark Rowley will retire in March, the Metropolitan Police Service said on Tuesday, after a 31-year career in which he led efforts to curb a rise in militant attacks.

Rowley was the public face of the police’s counter-terrorism operations as attacks in Britain soared to their highest ever level last year, and he spearheaded the response to deadly incidents such as the London Bridge attack and the Manchester concert bombing.