British police arrest five terror suspects in crackdown

The British counter-terror police arrested a total of five men in various parts of England on suspicion of terrorism on Monday.

The arrests occurred in Manchester in the north-west, in Peterborough in eastern England and in London, police said. Several flats were searched.

Some of the suspects, aged between 19 and 23, are accused of preparing a terrorist act. All five are in police custody.

“The arrests were part of a pre-planned operation and there is not believed to be any imminent threat to the public in relation to this,” the police statement said.

According to police, the arrests are not related to the knife attack near London Bridge that left two people dead in late November or the upcoming New Year celebrations in the British capital.