Police recovers arms cache during raid in central London

The British Police has reportedly found a significant arms cache, including a sniper rifle, a silencer and tracer rounds linked to the banned terrorist group al-Muhajiroun in a Coventry, The Observer reported.

According to online blog Jihad Watch, officials from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit and MI5 are investigating the weapons haul, which also included a shotgun and 200 rounds of ammunition, following raids at several addresses across the city that took place last week.

"Firearms and ammunition were recovered during the raids and a police investigation is ongoing," the Department said in a statement.

Sources also informed the Jihad Watch that four men have been arrested, one of whom has links to the al-Muhajiroun network.

 

Founded in 1996, the Al Muhajiroun is one of Europe's most prolific terror networks, which was implicated in the London bombings of 2005 that killed more than 30 people. After those attacks, the British government passed a raft of counterterrorism laws and embarked on a crackdown against Islamist extremists. It was eventually banned in 2009 under legislation outlawing "glorification" of terrorism.

Supporters of the group, which operates in the East End of London and Luton, have carried out atrocities including the 2017 London Bridge attack, the July 2005 bombings and the murder of Lee Rigby in 2013, with a number fighting for Islamic State and al-Qaida abroad.

In addition, reports also suggested that the group is regenerating, buoyed by the release of convicted terrorists from prison.

The head of national counter-terror policing, Neil Basu, reportedly said that the security services were working to disrupt terrorist activity by al-Muhajiroun.

Of the four men arrested in Coventry on suspicion of firearms offences, a 51-year-old and a 37-year-old remain on bail. Earlier, the counter-terrorism officials had raided two addresses in the city on July 3 and two more on July 15.

A source was further quoted as saying that one of the arrested men had links with the al-Muhajiroun network before leaving the group and had reappeared on the security services' radar after acquiring firearms.