This is the dramatic moment a ‘smiling’ terrorism suspect was arrested as police continue to hunt for accomplices in the Parsons Green Tube bombing.
The man, named as asylum seeker Bilal Mohammed, 25, was pinned down by armed officers in the middle of the street in Newport, South Wales – more than 130 miles from the scene of Friday’s attack in London.
Two other suspects, aged 30 and 48, were arrested a few hours later just two miles away in a raid on a ‘halfway house’ for asylum seekers.
The raids in South Wales brought the number of people arrested over the attack to five, and came as investigators were said to be exploring the online links of the Iraqi 18-year-old suspected bomber who lived with his foster parents in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey.
This is the moment a third man was arrested in connection with the Parsons Green bombing
He was the first of three arrests in Newport, south Wales. Two others were detained on Wednesday
Police arrested two other men in an early morning raid in this terraced street in the city. Locals say the property is run as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers
Dozens of people were injured when the bomb partially exploded during Friday morning rush-hour.
Mohammed was held at 7.15pm on Tuesday after leaving a halal meat shop. One witness said: ‘A big van pulled up and six officers got out and jumped this guy. There were two armed officers. The guy was smiling. I didn’t hear him saying anything.’
Ten hours later, at 5am yesterday, police arrested the two older men at a property in Newport that was being used by the Home Office as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.
Police are still questioning the 18-year-old, who was arrested at the port of Dover on Saturday, and Syrian refugee Yahya Faroukh, 21, who was arrested in west London and had been fostered by the same family in Sunbury-on-Thames.
Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met Police’s Counter-Terrorism Command, said: ‘This continues to be a fast-moving investigation. A significant amount of activity has taken place since the attack on Friday.
‘We now have five men in custody and searches are continuing at four addresses.
‘Detectives are carrying out extensive inquiries to determine the full facts behind the attack.’
Forensics experts were today seen scouring the first of two addresses raided in this city
The Met Police described the terror probe as ‘fast-moving’, but said searches would take time
A photograph taken on the tube at Parsons Green shows wires and a bucket on fire on Friday
Yesterday, the husband of the owner of the raided house in Newport, said: ‘It’s a Government-run property. We wouldn’t know who was in or out of there. The property is owned by us but the local government take control, they put asylum seekers in there.’
Locals said Mohammed is a Kurdish student and part-time painter and decorator from Iraq, the same country as the teenage refugee suspected of planting the Parsons Green bomb.
Bilal Rehman, an elder at the mosque where Mohammed is said to have worshipped until around six months ago, claimed last night that he may have already been on the police radar. He said: ‘He came to the UK when he was 15 or 16 for a safe haven.
‘He was a gentle, quiet man who was studying construction or something to do with the building trade at college in Cardiff. But I think he may have already been known to the police. Officers went to his house about a year ago – they found books, I think.’
One local Muslim resident claimed the suspect had recently started receiving visitors in expensive cars from London. He said: ‘He was always very humble, happy to be in the UK. But recently he started to receive visitors from people driving Mercedes and Jeeps, expensive cars with registration plates from London dealerships. It was very odd.’
Arrests have been made in Kent, London and south Wales by police investigating the bomb
A 25-year-old man has been detained in Newport, Wales, in connection with the terror attack, Scotland Yard said
Another friend of the refugee said he was a ‘serious’ young man who spent his days praying and was ‘proud of being a Kurd’.
Neighbour Abid Ali said Mohammed refused to discuss his views on the Islamic State group and terrorism when asked about it. Mr Ali said: ‘I just wanted to know what he thought about what was going on in the world, but he said, ‘Just leave it.’
‘That was about a month ago – I am very shocked by his arrest and didn’t sleep last night. I had told him that life is too short and he should enjoy himself. But when he’s not working he goes to pray at one of the local mosques. He has no girlfriend, I asked him why and he said, ‘No chance.’ ‘
Residents said Mohammed would go door-to-door looking for work. One woman, who did not want to be named, said: ‘He did some painting on our house about two years ago. He was a nice guy.
‘He used to condemn terrorism – my husband would condemn it and he would agree with him.’
Syrian refugee Yahya Faroukh (pictured left and right), 21, and an 18-year-old believed to be from Iraq, remain in police custody
A large scale police search is now underway at two addresses in the city following the arrests
Region’s previous links to ISIS jihadis and terrorist plots
It is not the first time south Wales has been at the centre off a police terror probe.
In 2014, it emerged that at least three students brought up in Cardiff had gone to fight for ISIS in Syria. Two even appeared in a video encouraging others to join them.
And in 2012 Cardiff brothers Gurukanth Desai, and Abdul Miah, were jailed along with Omar Latif, also from the city, for plotting Mumbai-style attacks in Britain.
A leading academic said in 2014 that he was convinced young Muslim men in the Welsh capital were being recruited in face-to-face meetings.
There is no suggestion the men arrested in the last 24 hours have links to the previous plots.
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