British police have arrested 12 individuals in connection with an alleged far-right terrorism threat targeting an Islamic gathering held in eastern England over the weekend.
The arrests were made across the country on Sunday and Monday, with detainees aged between 27 and 82. Eleven of the suspects are men, while one woman has also been detained.
“After becoming aware of a potential serious threat towards the Islamic event in Suffolk, we have moved extremely quickly to make a number of arrests in various locations across the country,” said Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London.
The Ijtima festival was attended by around 15,000 people. The event concluded earlier than planned on the advice of police, who were tipped off about a potential threat.
Eight of the 11 men arrested were detained on suspicion of terrorism. The remaining three were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. The woman was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. None had been formally charged at the time of writing.
Police said there was no evidence to suggest a wider threat to the public, noting that several addresses across the UK were still being searched as the investigation continued.
The arrests come against a backdrop of rising racial tension and hate crimes in the UK, with marginalized communities increasingly targeted. Populist far-right parties like Reform have allegedly fueled intolerance, following a series of riots two years ago.
In January, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was handling the highest number of hate crime cases referred by police in its history, with over 4,350 cases referred between July and September last year—a 14.7% increase from the previous quarter.
Responding to the arrests, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood claimed police had “undoubtedly saved lives.” She stated, “Twelve individuals have now been arrested. I know this is deeply concerning news for British Muslims. We must stand against hatred and we must unite around our shared belief in a country that is open, generous and tolerant to all our communities.”
Source: www.aljazeera.com