6 arrested for suspected terror offenses in Britain

LONDON — Six people were arrested Monday in London and other parts of Britain suspected of planning “an act of terrorism,” counter-terrorism police said.

“Six people have this morning been arrested on suspicion of offenses under the Terrorism Act,” the North East Counter Terrorism Unit said in a statement.

Five men and a woman, all aged in their 20s and 30s, were detained “on suspicion of engaging in the preparation of an act of terrorism,” and are being held in police custody, the force said.

Four of the men are from Derby, northern England, a fifth man is from Burton on Trent, in central England, and the woman is from London.

Police said they were searching six properties in the same locations and urged people “to remain alert and vigilant but not to be alarmed.”

On Thursday the head of Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence agency, Alex Younger, said the scale of the terror threat in Britain was “unprecedented.”

The threat level for international terrorism in Britain has been “severe” — meaning an attack is considered highly likely — since August 2014.