Counter-terrorism officers working with MI5 have arrested four young Muslim men amid fears they were planning a terror attack on UK soil.
Scotland
Yard has said officers from its SO15 terrorism command held the
suspects at addresses in Hounslow, Uxbridge and Southall, west London,
and in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, overnight.
Police would not speculate on the alleged plot but it is reportedly linked to an Islamist terror plot aimed at UK targets.
According
to reports detectives are investigating whether the alleged attack
would have involved a gun attack rather than a bomb.
Terror raids: Four men have been arrested in a series of terror raids, including one here in High Wycombe, Bucks
A police officer guards this property in Desborough Avenue, where a neighbour said officers were searching a shed
One
27-year-old man was arrested in a car in the street in Southall,
London, by armed officers, but no shots were fired, the Met said.
The remaining three men are a 22-year-old, from Hounslow, a 19-year-old from High Wycombe, and a 25-year-old in Uxbridge.
The
suspects were all arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the
commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
Officers are also searching Officers eight properties as part of the investigation.
It was reported the allegations are linked to a UK plot - not travelling to Syria to join ISIS.
A Met spokesman: 'They have all been taken to police stations in central London and remain in custody.
'A
number of residential addresses and vehicles are being searched by
specialist officers in west London and Thames Valley as part of the
investigation.
'These arrests and searches are part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist related terrorism'.
The arrest made in the Thames Valley area was made in High Wycombe, in Buckinghamshire, it is understood.
Investigation: These officers were guarding the front door of this High Wycombe house while forensics worked inside
Today
two police officers wearing high visibility jackets were posted outside
the brown wooden front door of the brick terraced house in Desborough
Avenue, near the town centre, where it was understood one of the terror
suspects was arrested overnight.
A cordon of police tape was placed around the brick driveway to the home, on which a police patrol car was also parked.
A
neighbour said today that he had had 'several run-ins' with a young man
living at the house, who he believed to be about 18 years.
He said the youngster, who he described as 'angry', had once flown into rage over some music he was playing at his home.
Raids: Scotland Yard said that they have arrested four young men in a series of raids linked to an alleged Islamist terror plot
When
he asked the teenager's mother about it, she told him: 'I'm sorry, it's
my son. He's young and he's just discovered his faith.'
The
neighbour had noticed that the teenager had begun to grow a beard and
wear traditional muslim dress, including a white cap and robes.
All
the curtains were closed at the terraced house where police forensic
staff were combing the home and garden for clues while neighbours stood
in the street and watched.
The
neighbour said that he saw a woman, the teenager, a man aged in his 20s
along with two small children regularly coming and going from the
address.
He
said that he had been out when the raid took place early this morning
and that he arrived back at his home to find officers removing items
from the family's shed.
Today's terror raid in Desborough Avenue was not the first the road has seen.
In October 2008, a then 22-year-old man was questioned by police after being arrested under the Terrorism Act.
The man was one of two from High Wycombe arrested after properties in the town were raided in the early hours.
A
Thames Valley Police spokesman said at the time: 'The arrests were made
following a routine search for an unrelated crime. Items were found
which led to their arrest under the Terrorism Act.'
Officers were not armed during the 2008 searches, which were described as 'large scale'.
.JPG)
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