LONDON
British police said Friday that a further two people have been detained following yesterday's arrest of nine men as part of an investigation into "Islamist related terrorism."
The Metropolitan Police Service's Counter Terrorism Command said in a statement that the duo were arrested in the early hours of the morning in a vehicle on a motorway in central England.
The statement said that a 33-year-old is being held on suspicion of membership of a proscribed organization and encouraging "terrorism," and a second man -- aged 42 -- was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
The nine other men were arrested Thursday in London on similar charges.
According to British media reports, radical preacher Anjem Choudary is believed to be among those arrested for allegedly belonging to the group Al-Muhajiroun (The emigrants) -- banned under the British Terrorism Act in 2010.
The Metropolitan police had said that a number of residential, business and community premises in London were being searched, along with a residential address in Stoke on Trent, around 250km away from the capital.
The ages of the men arrested Thursday range from 22 to 51 years old.
Police said Friday that the arrests and searches were part of an ongoing investigation into "Islamist-related terrorism" and are not in response to any immediate public safety risk.
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