UK police: Syria-related terror arrests jump 6-fold

London, Jan 24: The British police have pointed out that the number of arrests for suspected Syria-related terror offenses in the country have been increased to six-fold last year.

According to the Scotland Yard, the territorial police force of London said that the cops made 165 arrests across the country for offenses. The offenses includes financing, commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, and attending a terrorist training camp.

Almost 25 Syria-related arrests were reported in the year 2013.

Counter-terrorism policing coordinator Helen Ball said that the police have been running "exceptionally high numbers of investigations, the likes of which we have not seen for many years." She said most of the disrupted plots appeared to be inspired or directed by terrorism overseas.

In August, the terror threat level in Britain was raised from "substantial" to "severe," the second-highest level, in response to threats from extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.

PTI