Six arrested in ‘major’ terror plot

The six men, aged 25 to 32, were arrested on suspicion of plotting terrorist acts. They were detained at or near their homes in the Moseley, Sparkbrook, Sparkhill, Ward End, and Balsall Heath areas of Birmingham between 11.30pm and 1am.

Police said the Liberal Democrat conference, which is taking place in Birmingham, was not a target.

Specialist police teams have been searching the suspects’ homes.

Channel 4 News Midlands Correspondent Darshna Soni said that one police officer was standing guard outside a house in Ward End, while plain clothes police officers had also been searching the house next door.

Channel 4 News can reveal that a man who lived in that house was Mohammed Irfan, 33, who had been convicted for sending weapons and equipment to the Taliban in Afghanistan. He served two years of a four-year sentence and was released in 2009.

But police would not confirm the names of any of those arrested.

In a brief statement, West Midlands Police‘s Assistant Chief Constable for Security, Marcus Beale, said:”I fully understand that after a counter-terrorism operation of this size, the public will want to know more details about what we suspect may have been going on – and what has prompted us to take this action.

“For us, once the key issue of public safety has been addressed – and it has been for this operation – the main thing is to do all we can to investigate the matter professionally, thoroughly and fairly.”

A 22-year-old woman from Saltley was also arrested at 6.30am on suspicion of failing to disclose information.

Midlands Correspondent Darshna Soni assesses the impact of the arrests in Birmingham:
The arrests were made by unarmed police officers, indicating that intelligence showed the six men and one woman did not possess weapons.
The men and woman are being questioned at an unnamed police station in Birmingham and can be held for up to 14 days.
Security sources have told us a decision was taken to disrupt the alleged plot in its early stages. No explosives or bomb-making equipment was found, which is what detectives expected.
The addresses include areas like Sparkbrook and Ward End, areas with predominately Muslim populations. Sources have indicated this alleged plot was linked to Islamic extremism and neighbours have told me the arrested men and women were of Pakistani origin.
I spoke to a relative who didn't want to come on camera. He told me two of his brothers had been arrested. His brother was unemployed. Another of those being questioned worked as a taxi driver. One lived in a terraced street.
The other, in a detached house in a leafy suburb. "This is such a well-to-do area, you just wouldn’t have imagined it," one neighbour said.

Speculation over potential targets or the identity of the suspects was “neither fair to them or to any judicial process which may or may not follow”, he added.

But he did reveal the raid is not connected with the Liberal Democrats’ autumn conference taking place at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre.

The terrorist threat level for the UK remained at “substantial” after the arrests. It was lowered from the higher level of “severe” in July.

Anyone with information is asked to call the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.