Eight arrested as UK police probe arson attacks
UK counter-terrorism police say they have arrested eight people as part of an investigation into a series of suspected arson attacks in London, including a plot to target a venue linked to the Jewish community.
In the police statement, it was stated that seven of the arrests were made in the last 48 hours as part of the investigation carried out on suspicion of arson conspiracy.
Police did not identify a specific location and said the intended target was affiliated with the Jewish community.
The arrests come as UK police investigate a series of attacks on Jewish-linked sites in the capital, part of a wider increase in threats and criminal activity since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
UK security officials have warned that Iran is trying to use criminal proxies to carry out hostile activities in the UK, and pro-Iran group Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiyya has claimed some of the latest attacks on social media.
Police found no connection between the group and the recent arrests.
In the latest operations, police said detectives arrested three men, aged 24, 25 and 26, in Harpenden, north London, on Sunday evening and later released them on bail.
On Monday, a 25-year-old man was arrested in Stevenage, north London, while a 26-year-old young man and two women, aged 50 and 59, were arrested in a vehicle near the city of Birmingham in central England and taken to a police station in London, where they remained in custody.
On Tuesday morning, officers arrested a 39-year-old man at an address in west London under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000.
Police said the arrest was linked to an investigation after jars containing the benign substance were found in Kensington Gardens in central London last week.
Officers added that searches were continuing at a facility in east London.
Separately, a 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty on Tuesday to arson not endangering life, following an attack on a synagogue in north London at the weekend, police said.
While minor damage occurred in the fire, no one was injured.
Counter-terrorism police say they have arrested 23 people since last month’s attack on several ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity.
