UK police arrest 11 in far-right probe

LONDON: British police said 11 people had been arrested by counterterrorism officers on Wednesday as part of an investigation into a banned far-right group.

The 11 men were arrested across the country on suspicion of offenses including preparing terrorist acts, being members of a banned organization and possession of terrorism documents as part of the inquiry into the National Action organization.

The neo-Nazi group became the first farright organization to be outlawed in Britain last year after the murder of Member of Parliament Jo Cox, whose killing it had praised.

Earlier this month, three men, including two soldiers, appeared in court charged with being members of National Action and police said the men held in the latest arrests were part of the same investigation.

“Today’s arrests are part of coordinated action by the national counterterrorism network and UK policing,” said Det. Chief Supt. Martin Snowden, the head of counterterrorism policing in northeast England.

“Those who promote extreme right wing views are looking to divide our communities and spread hatred. This will not be tolerated and those who do so must be brought to justice.”

Last month, a senior police chief said the number of referrals to the authorities about suspected right-wing extremists had doubled since the murder of Cox, who was killed in June last year by a loner obsessed with Nazis and white supremacist ideology.