Tube ‘bomb suspect’ arrested in Birmingham

A man, believed to be one of the group involved in last week’s attempted bomb attacks in London, has been arrested in an early morning raid in Birmingham.

The man was shot with a Taser stun gun before being arrested at an address in Heybarnes Road in the Hay Mills area of the city. He is understood to have been taken to the high security Paddington Green police station in London.

A suspect package was also found at the house and nearby residents had to be evacuated from their homes, while the bomb squad examined the scene.

Three other men were also arrested under the Terrorism Act in another raid at an address in Washwood Heath in Birmingham.

Forensic examinations are continuing at both addresses.

In a separate incident, two people were arrested under the Terrorism Act in Grantham, Lincolnshire on Tuesday night. The men had been travelling on a train from Newcastle to King’s Cross station in London. They were arrested following a tip-off from two Metropolitan police officers.

Another man was also arrested on Wednesday at Luton airport on the Terrorism Act. He was attempting to board a flight heading to Nimes in the South of France.

Police are attempting to find the four men who carried out the attempted attacks on three Tube trains and a bus on July 21, just two weeks after four other suicide bombers killed 52 people in similarly planned attacks in the capital. Two of the suspects have been named so far – Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, and Muktar Said Ibrahim.

Both suspects have been linked to a flat in New Southgate, north London, where chemicals, which could have been used as explosives, were discovered in the property itself and a garage.

A white VW Golf, thought to have been used by one of the suspects, was also seized in the Finchley area of north London on Tuesday.

Five other men have been arrested and are being questioned in connection with the attempted attacks. However, none of them are believed to be the main suspects.

(KMcA/SP)