LONDON — Regarding the arrest, the UK Home Office said Home Secretary John Reid had been fully briefed on what it described as a "nationwide operation".

A Home Office spokeswoman said "We can confirm that a major counter terrorism operation took place earlier today led by West Midlands Police." "Eight arrests under the UK Terrorism Act have been made to date during this nationwide operation." "The Home Secretary was fully briefed on the operation and is receiving regular updates as developments occur." "This operation is a reminder of the real and serious nature of the terrorist threat we face," the spokeswoman added.

Today’s arrests come after police detained a total of five people in anti-terror raids in Manchester and Halifax, West Yorkshire, northern England, last week.

Officers arrested two 24-year-old men and a 32-year-old man in Manchester on January 23 as part of an investigation into the disappearance of a man being monitored under a control order.

The same day, two men were separately arrested in dawn raids in Halifax by unarmed Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist officers supported by West Yorkshire Police.

Rizwan Ditta, 29 and Bilal Mohammed, 26, were later charged with terror offences.

The pair were remanded yesterday to appear before London’s City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court on February 6 by video link.

Ditta faces 13 charges under the Terrorism Act, while Mohammed is accused of two.

The charges relate to alleged possession of extremist material, said to include an Al-Qaeda training film and a computer file called "Hamas Bomb".(end) he.

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