Police Launch Raid on Banned Kurdish Group, Arresting Seven British
British police have arrested seven people and searched multiple locations in London, including a Kurdish community center, as part of a counterterrorism investigation linked to the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK, banned in Britain since 2001, has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey, resulting in more than 40,000 deaths. The Metropolitan Police’s Acting Commander Helen Flanagan stated that the raid aimed to arrest individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activities associated with the group.
Founded in southeast Turkey in 1978, the PKK, which now primarily operates out of bases in northern Iraq and northeastern Syria, is designated a terrorist organization by many of Ankara’s NATO allies, including Britain, the US, and the European Union, among others.
London police described the arrests, involving five men and two women aged 23 to 62, as precautionary, with no immediate threat to the public. Police searched eight locations, including the Kurdish Community Centre in north London, which will remain closed for up to two weeks.
Flanagan acknowledged concerns among local communities, stating, “I want to reassure the community that our activity is being carried out to keep everyone safe from potential harm, including those within the Kurdish community itself.”
The arrests come amid heightened tensions in the region, with ongoing clashes between Turkish forces and Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq and Syria. The attacks have included large-scale operations against Kurdish factions within the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led, US-backed coalition considered a key Western partner in the fight against the Islamic State, straining relations between Ankara and Washington.
