British police arrest twelve terror suspects

British police arrest twelve terror suspects

2010-12-20 16:14:22 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- British police on Monday arrested twelve terror suspects in what officials described as a large-scale, national counter terrorism operation.

West Midlands Police said the men, aged between 17 and 28, were arrested at various locations in Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent, London, and Birmingham. They were detained under the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism in the United Kingdom.

Eleven of the suspects were arrested at or near their home addresses at around 5 a.m. local time, while the twelfth suspect from Stoke-on-Trent was taken into custody at a domestic property in Birmingham.

"This is a large scale, pre-planned and intelligence-led operation involving several forces," said Police Assistant Commissioner John Yates, who is the national lead for 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."

Yates said he believed it was necessary to arrest the suspects in order to ensure public safety, but did not say if there was evidence to indicate the group had been planning to carry out a terrorist attack in the near future.

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