Terror plot is foiled as police storm houses in Yorkshire

 An Islamic State-inspired terror plot has been foiled, say sources, after the arrest of two men in raids on houses in the West Yorkshire town where the mastermind of the 7/7 London suicide bombings lived.

Neighbours reported hearing explosions and shouting as counterterror police raided two properties in the same residential road in Dewsbury.

Two men were arrested at the houses, two streets away from the home of Talha Asmal, 17, Britain’s youngest suicide bomber who reportedly killed himself in Iraq in 2015 in an attack on an oil refinery. Mohammad Sidique Khan, the mastermind of the July 7 2005 attack, lived about a mile away.

It is understood that the plot linked to yesterday’s arrests in Headfield Road was at an early stage and counter-terror police were continuing to investigate. Security sources confirmed it was linked to alleged Islamist terrorism.

In a statement, police said: “Two men from Dewsbury, aged 52 and 21, have been arrested by Counter Terrorism Policing North East on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. They have been detained at a police station in West Yorkshire.”

Police reassured the public that the explosions heard were the result of officers forcing entry into the houses. Forensics officers were seen working at a red-brick semi-detached bungalow and a detached property.

Azhar Khan, 26, who lives opposite one of the properties, said: “I heard a loud bang. There were seven or eight armed police on the road outside the house and two unmarked police cars. Five people broke the door down and were shouting. I saw an officer inside with bolt cutters.”