Three women arrested in London under anti-terror laws
Three women were arrested under Britain’s anti-terror laws in east London on Monday, police said, in connection with investigations into a plot that was thwarted last week.
The Metropolitan Police said it arrested two 18-year-olds and a 19-year-old on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of terrorist acts.
“The arrests were made as part of an ongoing intelligence-led operation in connection with an address on Harlesden Road,” the police said in a statement, referring to a location where a woman was shot on Friday during an armed raid which police said disrupted a militant plot.
Monday’s arrests came days after a man was arrested carrying knives near Prime Minister Theresa May’s office in Westminster, and just over a month after a British-born convert to Islam ploughed a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.
On Thursday, armed counter-terrorism officers using tear gas stormed the house in the Willesden area of the capital and shot a woman in her 20s.
She was released from hosital on Sunday, then herself arrested on suspicion of committing terror offences.
Britain has been on its second-highest alert level of “severe” since August 2014, meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely.