Five arrested in the UK under Terrorism Act

LONDON: British police arrested five men in northern England under the country’s security laws in two separate operations on Tuesday.   

Two men, aged 25 and 29, were arrested at separate locations in the city of Halifax by detectives from London’s Counter-Terrorism Command and local officers, a police statement said.   

“This is not about bomb-making or planting bombs,” a police source said, adding they were suspected of being involved in logistical work. The source said the operation was not linked to any other investigation or the attack on July 7, 2005, when four British Islamists blew themselves up on three London underground trains and a bus, killing 52 people.   

Three other men held on Tuesday were arrested as part of a separate operation by detectives in Manchester on suspicion of ‘terrorist support and facilitation.’ 

“At this stage, there is no intelligence of any planned terrorist activity in the UK and the arrests are part of an ongoing investigation,” Manchester Police said in a statement.   Anti-terrorism officers have made hundreds of arrests under security laws since the September 11 2001 attacks on the United States. 

Last November, the country’s domestic spy chief warned that Muslim militants were plotting at least 30 major terrorist attacks in Britain.