Six arrested after police smash IS cell plotting to bomb UK
POLICE have smashed a suspected Islamic State terror cell plotting to bomb Britain.
Army bomb squad teams cordoned off residential streets yesterday as they raided a suspected bomb-making factory.
Officers armed with assault rifles made dawn raids on six addresses in Derby, London and Burton upon Trent.
Five men and one woman were arrested, including one suspect said to be an asylum seeker who may not have been in Britain for long.
The raids follow months of surveillance by police and MI5, who believe they have foiled a plot to attack Britain linked to ‘international-related terrorism’.
Investigators described the arrests as ‘significant’ but said there was no immediate threat to the public, as they believe the suspects were in the early stages of planning and had not yet settled on any targets.
No guns or explosive devices have been found, but police have recovered a large number of phones and computers that they hope will contain more evidence of the suspects’ activities.
The arrests come amid heightened security in the run-up to Christmas, with armed
‘International related terrorism’
officers patrolling town centres. Whitehall sources said the arrests fit in with the ‘raised tempo’ of counter terrorism operations seen over the last 12 months.
One of the first suspects was arrested in the canteen of Moy Park poultry factory in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, on Sunday night.
Another arrest was made yesterday morning at a house of multiple occupancy in Derby’s Normanton district. Bomb disposal teams were called to search the address ‘as a precaution’.
Ravi Kumar, 59, who owns the house, said: ‘I have leased the house to a housing association ... As I understand it, the property is being used to house asylum seekers.’
Last night police were quizzing four men from Derby aged 22 to 36, a 27-year- old man from Burton upon Trent and a woman, 32, from London on suspicion of engaging in the preparation of an act of terrorism.
The investigation is being led by the North East counter terrorism unit. In a statement, it said: ‘All six arrests this morning were carried out under terrorism legislation, meaning officers have an initial 48 hours to charge, release or apply for a warrant of further detention. The arrests are linked to international-related terrorism.’