British police carried out a major nationwide anti-terrorism operation on Wednesday, arresting eight people in a series of dawn raids which media reports said had thwarted a significant planned attack.
Detectives said the people were arrested at addresses across the city of Birmingham on ”suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism”.
A number of streets were sealed off in Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city and one of its most ethnically diverse, with a large Muslim population.
”As a precautionary measure we will have an enhanced police presence at these locations,” West Midlands police said in a statement which added there was no ”specific threat” to the local area.
Security services believe a terrorist attack is highly likely in Britain and the country is on its second highest alert level.
Last year the head of MI5, Britain’s domestic spy service, warned that about 30 terrorism plots were being worked on and agents were monitoring around 1 600 suspects.
The government issued a statement saying the arrests were part of a nationwide operation. ”We can confirm that a major counter-terrorism operation took place earlier today led by West Midlands Police,” the Home Office said.
”This operation is a reminder of the real and serious nature of the terrorist threat we face,” it added.
Sky Television, citing unnamed sources, said police had stopped a major terrorist plot which was in the latter stages of planning or was near fruition.
A police source told Reuters the suspected plot would not have caused mass casualties but would have involved a new terrorism tactic.
”It wasn’t a mass tube or plane-type thing,” the source said.
On July 7 2005, Britain suffered its worst peacetime attack by militants when four British Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people on London’s transport system.
In August last year, detectives said they had foiled a suspected plot to blow up trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States using liquid explosives. – Reuters