Residents in London's Notting Hill area were surprised Friday as police cordoned off their neighborhood and evacuated some homes in preparation for raids in which several suspected attackers in the July 21 attempted bombings were arrested.
Two men were taken into custody in the trendy neighborhood, and another man was arrested elsewhere in London. A fourth "person of interest," Hussain Osman, was captured in Rome and is expected to be extradited to Britain, Scotland Yard spokesman, Peter Clarke, said Friday afternoon.
Earlier that morning, heavily armed police in protective suits and gas masks stormed an apartment, where they captured a man who identified himself as Ibrahim Muktar Said, the person believed to be responsible for placing a bomb on a double-decker bus on July 21, CNN reports.
He was arrested on the top floor of a flat along with another man, who was identified as Ramzi Mohamed. Both men were taken from the flat in dramatic fashion, and ordered to strip to their underwear so that police could make sure they weren't concealing explosives.
As police overtook the apartment, a witness named Patrick Bell said, "I heard six loud bangs, which I found out from a policeman were stun grenades I believe, and then I heard two shots," the Associated Press reports. "The noise that I heard was an extremely loud bang."
Two women were also taken into custody at the Liverpool Street subway station under the country's Terrorism Act, the AP reports.
"The investigation has moved with some speed but it is continuing," said Clarke in a press conference. "There will be more very visible police activity."
Overall, it was a day of frayed nerves and anxious moments for Britons. One commuter summed up the nervousness of the country's citizens. "This morning my mum gave me a look as though she was never going to see me again," said Jasmine Chandhoke, 22. "Everyone was being incredibly vigilant on the train, checking each other's bags."
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