UK foils active terror plot

LONDON: British police said on Friday they had arrested six people as part of an active plot, the day after a knifeman was arrested near parliament in a separate counter-terrorism operation.

Just weeks after the attack on the Houses of Parliament that left five people dead and scores injured, London is once again on high alert as Britain prepares for a snap election on June 8.

"Yesterday was an extraordinary day in London," Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said.

"I wanted to reassure the public that this increased level of terrorist activity is being matched by our action.... We are making arrests on a near daily basis."

A woman in her twenties was shot on Thursday evening when armed police raided a property in north London as part of a counter-terrorism investigation, firing CS gas as they entered.

Six people have been arrested as part of the probe, while the woman -- who is also suspected of involvement -- remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Hours earlier, a 27-year-old man was arrested near parliament on suspicion of terrorism offences and possession of knives, in what police confirmed had also been an unrelated but ongoing investigation.

Media reports said he was a British national who was born overseas and grew up in London, but police declined to confirm the details until and if he was charged.

"Due to these arrests that have been made yesterday, in both cases I believe we have contained the threats that they posed," Basu said.

Asked if police had foiled an active plot, he said: "Yes."

Britain’s national terror threat level has been at "severe", meaning an attack is highly likely, since August 2014 -- and remained unchanged after the attack on parliament on March 22.

Khalid Masood drove a car through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing into the gates of parliament. He ran inside and knifed to death a policeman, before being shot.

The man arrested on Thursday, metres from parliament and Prime Minister Theresa May’s Downing Street residence, had reportedly been tracked by police and the domestic intelligence agency MI5.

Newspaper reports said he had been followed as he travelled into Westminster, in an investigation that originally began with a tip-off by someone close to him.

"They stopped and searched him as part of an ongoing counter-terrorism investigation," Basu said, without giving further details.

An AFP photographer saw firearms officers surrounding the bearded man and pinning him to the ground, before putting him in handcuffs.