Five men and a woman were arrested in London over terrorism charges.
All suspects are aged between 18 and 30, living in Ealing, West of London, and in Newham in the southeast of the capital.
One of the suspects, 24 years, was injured during his arrest at his house in East London, but did not require hospital treatment according to the police.
It is understood that the pre-planned operation arrests at the various locations were related to a possible plot involving Islamist extremists with potential UK targets. Scotland Yard’s counter terrorism unit had been watching these suspects for some time before they decided to act on the grounds of public safety. The police ruled out any links to the Olympics or Paralympics.
The arrests came just week after the speech by Jonathan Evans, the director of MI5, expressing concerns on possible plots being discussed on the streets of Britain. He made clear that there are many people thinking about or plotting terrorist attacks in the UK with a new wave of British men travelling to the Middle East to get training on such attacks.
The UK terror threat is unchanged from “substantial”-- the third highest of five levels -- according to the joint terrorism analysis center. It means a terrorist attack is a strong possibility.
As the Olympics are less than 4 weeks away, it is likely there will be a high visibility of police and army deployments. Nearly 500,000 tourists are expected to visit the British capital, including 125 heads of states, to attend the opening ceremony on July 27.
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