Two men arrested over suspected terrorist plot to target Jewish community in Manchester area

Two men have been arrested over a suspected terrorist plot to target the Jewish community in the Manchester area.

Counter-terrorism police ‌said on Tuesday ​that they had ​arrested ‌two people under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 as ​part of an investigation into ​a ⁠suspected terrorist ⁠plot.

The two men, in ⁠their 30s, ​were arrested ​in ​Newton Street, in central Manchester on Sunday ⁠and taken to a London police station where they remained in custody, the Metropolitan Police said.

Officers also searched ‌addresses in Salford and Liverpool.

Yom Kippur, widely held to be the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, ran from sundown on Sunday until nightfall on Monday.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing (CTP), said the arrests followed a long investigation in which the force has disrupted "a plot to target the Jewish community in the Manchester area.

Police realise it will cause "further concern" to the Jewish community, "especially given the significant High Holy Day period," she said, adding that officers "are doing everything we can to keep them and the wider public safe.

Ms Evans said her unit and local forces are working together "to provide protective security support and advice for areas with Jewish communities, and particularly during the High Holy Day period".

Manchester Mayor Bev Craig said in a post on X that the arrests "will send a chill down the spine amongst Jewish communities" in the city.

Warning people that there would be increased police presence, she said she and her deputy, Kate Green "will do everything in our power to keep people safe, to challenge hatred and to stamp out the poison of antisemitism" in the region.

The Jewish Representative Council for Greater Manchester called on the government to "redouble its efforts to tackle the root causes of the hatred and extremism that are espoused in places of worship and other community spaces that continue to motivate people to target Jews.

"We cannot simply keep protecting our community from the next attack but must do much more to stop people being motivated to carry one out in the first place."

The Community Security Trust (CST), which monitors antisemitism in the UK, said news of the suspected plot was "utterly chilling" as it came so close to the anniversary of the terrorist attack at Heaton Park Synagogue.

Urging the Jewish community to stay calm, CST said it has been working closely with police in Manchester and around the country throughout Yom Kippur, "as part of our security operation over the High Holy Days".

Last October, two Jewish worshippers were killed in an attack on a synagogue in Manchester, carried out by ⁠a British citizen of Syrian descent who had ​said he was acting for Islamic State.

Jihad al Shamie, 35, drove into the gates of the synagogue, hitting a security guard, before attacking Melvin Cravitz with a knife.

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Mr Cravitz was killed, as was fellow worshipper Adrian Daulby - hit by a single police bullet as he held the doors closed - to stop the terrorist getting inside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.

Al Shamie, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, was shot dead as he charged at officers with the knife.

The attack came four months after four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity in northwest London were set on fire in an arson attack that caused around £1m in damage.

Four men - Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, 18, and Saif Ali - admitted destroying or damaging property by arson at the Old Bailey last month.

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