Police in the United Kingdom arrested today 12 men of a terrorist cell, suspected of having advanced plans for attacking several public targets in London.
Coordinated action by police in four cities—Birmingham, London, Cardiff, and Stoke-on-Trent—was “absolutely necessary,” according to the country’s most senior counterterrorism officer John Yates, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The men were arrested Monday at 5 a.m. The Daily Telegraph said the suspects are Bangladeshi and Pakistani young men between 17 and 28 and have been influenced by al-Qaeda preacher Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen.
A senior Iraqi official had previously said, according to the Daily Times, that he thought al-Qaeda was planning attacks around Christmas. Britain’s intelligence agency decided to move in on them when they intercepted messages saying the bombers were ready.
Yates said, “They have all been held on suspicion of the commission, preparation, or instigation of an act of terrorism in the U.K.,” the Daily Times reported.
