LONDON: British police on Monday arrested 12 men on suspicion of plotting an act of terrorism, in a major operation involving pre-dawn raids across the country.
The dozen, aged between 17 and 28, were detained “on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism in the UK”, police said in a statement. “This is a large-scale, pre-planned and intelligence-led operation involving several forces,” said Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who is in charge of counter-terrorism policing.
“The operation is in its early stages so we are unable to go into detail at this time about the suspected offences. However, I believe it was necessary at this time to take action in order to ensure public safety.”
The BBC quoted sources as saying the operation was linked to a probe investigating Al Qaeda-inspired terrorism.
Four of the men were from Cardiff, four from Stoke-on-Trent, north of Britain’s second city Birmingham in the English West Midlands, and three from London and said some of the suspects were of Bangladeshi origin.
