UK Makes First Arrests Linked to Brussels and Paris Attacks

Four men and a woman were arrested by the counter terrorism police in London.

An injured man inside Brussels airport post the attack. (Photo: AP)

In the first arrests in the United Kingdom directly linked to the probe into the Brussels and the Paris attacks, five persons, including a woman, were arrested by the counter-terrorism police in London.

Three of the men and the woman were detained in Birmingham, on Thursday and another man was held at London’s Gatwick Airport in the early hours of Friday.

Chief Constable Marcus Beale from West Midlands Police said there was no information to suggest an attack in Britain was being planned.

This action forms part of an extensive investigation by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, together with the wider counter terrorism network, (domestic spy agency) MI5 and international partners including Belgian and French authorities to address any associated threat to the UK following the attacks in Europe.

<b>Marcus Beale, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police</b>

Police declined to give any further details but a security source confirmed the arrests were linked to the suicide bombings in Brussels in March (which killed 32 people) and November 2015 attacks in Paris which left 130 people dead.

The four men, aged 40, 59 and two aged 26, and the 29-year-old woman are now being questioned by counter-terrorism detectives and police are searching several properties in Birmingham.

(With inputs from Reuters and PTI.)