11 neo-Nazis arrested in UK anti-terror crackdown

The arrests include people aged between 22 and 35 - of which six were nabbed from northwest England, two from South Wales, one from Wiltshire, and two from West Yorkshire, the Metropolitan Police said.

Eleven properties are being searched across England and Wales as part of the investigation led by Counter Terrorism Policing North East and North West. The arrests were a result of two separate investigations coordinated across a number of police forces, according to the Met's Neil Basu, senior national coordinator for counter- terrorism policing.

Basu said, "CT (Counter-Terrorism) policing is committed to tackling all forms of extremism that threatens public safety and security. The investigations relating to alleged extreme right-wing activity are pursued with the same level of resource and vigour as other ideologies, in order to bring suspected offenders before the courts".

"Today's (Thursday) arrests, while resulting from two separate investigations, have been coordinated by our officers across a number of forces. This maximises operational effectiveness for police and minimises disruption for the local communities," he said.

All those arrested are suspected to be members of National Action and of them six are also being questioned on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism and five are suspected of funding terrorism.

National Action, an anti-semitic, white supremacist group, was banned as a terrorist organisation in December by Home Secretary Amber Rudd.