A fifth man has been arrested in a police sting that targeted members of the army suspected of planning a terror attack with alleged links to outlawed neo-Nazi group National Action.
The West Midlands Police Counter Terrorism Unit announced on Friday that they had detained a 24-year-old man from Northampton on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.
He was also arrested on suspicion of being a member of a proscribed organisation - National Action - who were banned by Home Secretary Amber Rudd in December last year.
Police said the 24-year-old was originally arrested by officers from the Royal Military Police in Cyprus on Tuesday, but had since been taken to a police station in the West Midlands.
Four other men were arrested by police on Tuesday - a 22-year-old from Birmingham, a 32-year-old was apprehended in Powys and two 24-year-olds were arrested in Ipswich and Northampton.
The men are all believed to be serving members of the army and three of them are reportedly from the Royal Anglian Regiment.
Police have been granted further time to question the men, West Midlands Police said on Friday.
The Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Tuesday: “We can confirm that a number of serving members of the Army have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for being associated with a proscribed far right group.
“These arrests are the consequence of a Home Office Police Force led operation supported by the Army. This is now the subject of a civilian police investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further. Any further inquiries should be made to the Home Office Police Force.”
When she banned Nation Action, Rudd described the group as “a racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation”.
The group made a name for itself with a serious of offensive stunts including championing Thomas Mair, the man sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of MP Jo Cox a week before the EU Referendum.
Read about National’s Action path to being proscribed as a terrorist group here.