Dramatic Breakthrough in London Terrorist Attack Investigation

Acting on a tip from a neighbor, heavily armed police stormed a house in Birmingham and arrested Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, a suspected bomber in the failed July 21 attack on London's transportation system. The arrest was hailed as a significant development in the largest manhunt in British history, but authorities warned that at least three other suspects remained at large and may have more explosives. As investigators continued to piece together the puzzle of the terrorist cells, police were studying whether the material used in the July 21 attacks was related to the explosives found in a car parked by a member of the July 7 cell.

Key Takeaways:

• Yasin Hassan Omar, 24, a Somalia-born refugee, was arrested in Birmingham as part of the investigation into the failed July 21 attack on London's transportation system.
• Police believe Omar was the same man pictured on closed-circuit television fleeing the Warren Street Underground station in London on July 21, just moments after detonating, but failing to ignite, an explosive device.
• Authorities have identified at least three other suspects who are believed to be at large and may have more explosives.
• The police have recovered a number of nail bombs found in the trunk of a car parked by a member of the July 7 cell at a train station in Luton, which are being studied to determine if they are related to the material used in the July 21 attacks.
• Witness accounts suggest that Omar and another suspect, Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, may have returned to their apartment in the hours after the July 21 attacks, raising the fear that they may have picked up more explosives.
• Investigators have made significant strides in developing a clearer picture of the terrorist cells through a web of connections stretching across ethnic lines within the Muslim community.
• Three of the July 7 bombers were of Pakistani descent from the northern city of Leeds; the fourth was of Jamaican origin who converted to Islam at a South London mosque.
• Police have linked the two cells and are investigating a white-water rafting trip in North Wales in early June which was attended by at least two of the July 7 bombers and possibly by several of the July 21 suspects.

Statistics:

• 250: The number of suicide bomb scares responded to by police since the July 7 attacks.
• 7: The number of occasions on which police were on the brink of executing a "shoot to kill" policy.
• 3: The number of women arrested on suspicion of harboring the July 21 suspects in South London.
• 4: The number of suspects involved in the July 21 attack, with at least three still at large.
• 2: The number of terrorist cells linked by police, with connections stretching across ethnic lines within the Muslim community.

Sources:

• "The Boston Globe", Jul. 28
• "ABC News"
• "Metropolitan Police commander Sir Ian Blair"
• "Peter Clarke, head of Britain's antiterrorism police"
• "A police spokeswoman"
• "A witness account"
• "Police investigation reports"