LONDON: Two men were arrested on Wednesday over last week's London Underground terror attack in which 30 people were injured, bringing the total number of people in custody to five, police said.
The men, aged 48 and 30, were arrested under anti-terrorism legislation in Newport in Wales, police said in a statement, after a 25-year-old man was arrested in the same city on Tuesday.
"This continues to be a fast-moving investigation," Dean Haydon, head of counter-terrorism at London's Metropolitan Police, said in the statement.
"We now have five men in custody and searches are continuing at four addresses," he said.
"We anticipate that the searches will take some days to complete and may cause further disruption".
Friday's attack on a train at Parsons Green station in west London was claimed by the Daesh group.
A bomb hidden in a large white bucket apparently failed to detonate fully when it went off during morning rush hour but instead released what witnesses described as a "fireball" into the air.
Some commuters suffered burns, while others were injured in the stampede to the exit that ensued.
The bombing was the fifth terror attack in Britain in six months, which combined have claimed 35 lives.
The terror alert in Britain was raised to its maximum "critical" level on Friday, meaning another attack was believed to be imminent. It was lowered back to "severe" on Sunday.
An 18-year-old man, reportedly an Iraqi refugee, was arrested in the ferry departure terminal of the port of Dover on Saturday and a 21-year-old man was detained later the same day in west London.
The 21-year-old was named by British media, who said he was originally from Syria and had been working at a fast food chicken restaurant.
The police investigation has focused on a foster home in Sunbury-on-Thames, a suburb of London where the 18-year-old is believed to have lived.
Police said searches were also continuing at another address near London and two properties in Newport.
Two more arrests in Wales over London Underground bombing: police
Two more arrests in Wales over London Underground bombing: police
Left homeless by blaze, Muslims in southernmost Philippines observe Ramadan as month of trial
- Thousands lost their homes when parts of Bongao in Tawi-Tawi were burnt to ashes
- Many trying to fully observe the fasting month say they are grateful to be alive
Manila: As Annalexis Abdulla Dabbang was looking forward to observing the month of Ramadan with her family, just days before it began they lost everything when an enormous fire tore through whole neighborhoods of their city in the southernmost province of the Philippines.
Bongao is the capital of Tawi-Tawi, an island province, forming part of the country’s Muslim minority heartland in the Bangsamoro region. The city experienced its worst fire in years in early February, when flames swept through the coastal community, leaving more than 5,000 people homeless.
“We were swimming for our lives. We had to swim to escape from the fire ... We swam in darkness, and (even) the sea was already hot because of the fire,” Dabbang, a 27-year-old teacher, told Arab News.
“Everything we owned was gone in just a few hours — our home, our memories, the things we worked hard for, everything turned to ashes.”
Trying to save their 2-year-old daughter and themselves, she and her husband left everything behind — as did hundreds of other families that together with them have since taken shelter at the Mindanao State University gymnasium — one of the evacuation centers.
Unable to secure a tent, Dabbang’s family has been sleeping on the bleachers, sharing a single mat as their bed. When Ramadan arrived a few days after they moved to the makeshift shelter, they welcomed it in a different, more solemn way. There is no family privacy for suhoor, no room or means to welcome guests for iftar.
“Ramadan feels different now. It’s painful but at the same time more real. When we lost our home, we began to understand what sacrifice really means. When you sleep in an evacuation center, you understand hunger, discomfort in a deeper way,” Dabbang said.
“We don’t prepare special dishes. We prepare our hearts.”
While she and thousands of others have lost everything they have ever owned, she has not lost her faith.
“Our dreams may have turned to ashes, but our prayers are still alive,” she said.
“This Ramadan my prayers are more emotional than ever. I pray for strength, not just for myself, but for my family and for every neighbor who also lost their family home. I pray for healing from the trauma of fire. I pray that Allah will replace what we lost with something better. I pray for the chance to rebuild not just our house, but our sense of security.”
Juraij Dayan Hussin, a volunteer helping the Bongao fire victims, observed that many of them were traumatized and the need to cleanse the heart and mind during Ramadan was what kept many of them going, because they are “thankful that even though they lost their property, they are still alive.”
But the religious observance related to the fasting month is not easy in a cramped shelter.
“It’s hard for Muslims to perform their prayers when they do not have their proper attire because they usually have specific clothes for prayer,” he said. “Sanitation in the area is also an issue ... when you fast and when you pray, cleanliness is essential.”
For Abdulkail Jani, who is staying at a basketball court with his brother and more than 70 other families, this Ramadan will be spent apart from their parents, whom they managed to move to relatives.
“The month of Ramadan this year is a month of trial ... there will be a huge change from how we observed Ramadan in the past, but we will adjust to it and try to comfort ourselves and our family. The most important thing is that we can perform the fasting,” he told Arab News.
“Despite our situation now, despite everything, as long as we’re alive, we will observe Ramadan. We’ll try to observe it well, without missing anything.”
