Terror alert lowered after Tube bombing
THE UK’s threat level was yesterday lowered from critical to severe, after two people were arrested in connection with the terror attack on Parsons Green.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said police had made “good progress” in the investigation as she announced the country had been removed from the highest terror alert.
Ms Rudd said: “Following the attack in Parsons Green last Friday, the police have made good progress with what is an ongoing operation.
“The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which reviews the threat level that the UK is under, has decided to lower that level from critical to severe.
“Severe still means that an attack is highly likely, so I would urge everybody to continue to be vigilant but not alarmed.”
It comes after police arrested a 21-year-old man in Hounslow at 11.50pm on Saturday.
Searches were also taking place at a residential address in Stanwell, Surrey, in connection with the arrest, Scotland Yard said yesterday.
An 18-year-old man was also detained in the departure area of Dover ferry port on Saturday morning.
The Home Secretary has said it appears the bomber was not a lone wolf but it is “too early to reach any final conclusions on that”.
Asked if she could give any information on claims by Islamic State that there were other unexploded devices, she told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “It is inevitable that socalled Islamic State, or Daesh, will reach in and try and claim responsibility. We have no evidence to suggest that yet.”
The country’s top counter-terrorism officer, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, said police were gaining a “greater understanding of the preparation of the device”.
He said: “The high pace and rapid progress of this investigation is continuing. There was another arrest overnight and two men are in custody. There are now two searches continuing at addresses in Hounslow and Surrey and we are getting a greater understanding of the preparation of the device.
“There is still much more to do but this greater clarity and this progress has led JTAC – the independent body that assesses threat – to come to the judgement that an attack is no longer imminent.”
Armed police will maintain a strong presence across the country into this week and military personnel drafted in to provide support will be phased out, Mr Rowley said.
Thirty people were injured when the improvised device exploded during rush hour at Parsons Green station, with all but one discharged from hospital by yesterday afternoon.
A key strand of the investigation has focused on CCTV as officers comb through footage to establish who planted the device, and when and where it was placed on the train.
The first suspect was arrested at around 7.50am at the port, the busiest ferry hub in Europe and a commercial gateway to the French coast, including Calais and Dunkirk.
Tourist Daniel Vaselicu, 31, said he saw the “young and light-skinned” man being interrogated by two unarmed police officers moments before his arrest in Dover.