Terror swoop to foil attack: Londoners among 12 seized in holiday atrocity alert

12 April 2012

Anti-terror police swooped on a dozen suspects today amid fears of a Mumbai-style Christmas attack on the UK mainland.

The men were held in a national counter-terrorism operation at dawn. Five were arrested in Cardiff, four in Stoke-on-Trent and three in the capital.

Four addresses in London were being searched this morning but police refused to give any locations. The suspects, aged between 17 and 28, were seized by unarmed officers at about 5am.

The 17-year-old was held at his home in London. Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner John Yates said he had ordered the swoop to ensure public safety. Sources said there were fears of an atrocity being planned to coincide with the Christmas holiday.

Home Secretary Theresa May was fully briefed on the raids before they took place. The arrests, which followed a surveillance operation lasting several weeks, came after intelligence agencies in Europe, Pakistan and the US intercepted a credible Islamist plot to launch raids on European cities, in a similar style to the attack on Mumbai.

Ten gunmen killed more than 170 people during a co-ordinated commando-style raid on the Indian city in November 2008.

And last week Luton-based suicide bomber Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, 28, blew himself up as he made his way towards crowds in Stockholm.

Police have been investigating his links to Britain after the Iraqi-born graduate of Bedfordshire University left his wife and three children at their home in Luton to travel to Sweden.

However, sources played down any links between the Swedish attack and today's arrests. Sources have told the Standard that intelligence agencies and counter terror police are concerned about a surge in "electronic chatter" about a terror attack in Europe.

The operation is being led by Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, the Senior National Co-ordinator Terrorist Investigations, and is being coordinated from the West Midlands Counter-Terrorism Unit.

The 12 men were detained on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism in the UK. Several were said to be British citizens.

West Midlands Police said: "All were arrested at or near their home addresses, with the exception of one suspect from Stoke who was at a domestic property in Birmingham.

"Searches are now being conducted at the home addresses, plus the address in Birmingham and another residence in London.

"The suspects will be held at police stations in central London, the North West and the West Midlands."

Police are asking anyone with information that could assist the investigation to call the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in