Woman arrested in Bedfordshire and two houses raided over 'Syria-related terrorism'

• Woman, 25, arrested in Bedfordshire this morning as two houses raided
• Scotland Yard say she was detained on suspicion of plotting 'terrorist acts'
• Probe is linked to Syria, where extremist group ISIS have set up enclave
• Around 500 Britons are thought to have travelled to the region to fight 

A 25-year-old woman was arrested in Bedfordshire today on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts, Scotland Yard said.

Counter-terrorism officers took the young woman to a central London police station, where she remains in custody, the Metropolitan Police said.

Two addresses in Bedfordshire were being searched as part of the investigation which is linked to Syria.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: 'Officers from SO15 Counter Terrorism Command have this morning arrested a 25-year-old woman in Bedfordshire on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. This investigation is related to Syria.'

Authorities believe more than 500 Britons have gone to Syria to fight alongside extremists, half of whom may have returned.

But police say that number will leap by 50 per cent within a year, despite the recent deaths of up to 30 British jihadis in the fighting.

Britain’s top policeman, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said this week that at least five Britons a week are heading to the war-torn country to fight for Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists.

He said: 'Those numbers are a minimum. 

There may be many more who set out to travel to another country and meandered over to Syria and Iraq in a way that is not always possible to spot when you have failed states and leaky borders.'

Despite serious travel restrictions, devotees from around the globe areflocking to enslave, rape, behead and massacre in the name of Allah.
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As many as 60 of the Britons who have travelled to the region are thought to be women offering themselves as so-called 'jihadi brides' to those fighting Western and local forces.

The women are thought to be travelling through Turkey before they are married off to extremists they have met through the internet.

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It is believed around 500 Britons may have travelled to Syria to join ISIS fighters like those pictured in Raqqa

Mia Bloom, from the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies in the US, said: 'ISIS is recruiting these women in order to be baby factories. They are seeing the establishment of an Islamic state and now they need to populate the state.'

Last week, a gang of terror suspects were charged with plotting to kill policemen and soldiers in London drive-by shootings.

Tarik Hassane, 21, Suhaib Majeed, 20, Nyall Hamlett, 24, and Momen Motasim, 21, all from London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court amid tight security as they were charged with an Islamic State-inspired gun plot.

It was alleged to have been formulated in response to a fatwa by a senior ISIS terrorist who called for followers to kill ‘disbelievers’ in their home countries.

Earlier this month, two houses in Portsmouth - including the family home of Ifthekar Jaman, a British man who died in Syria - were among properties raided by counter-terrorism police.

Officers from the South East Counter Terrorism Unit (Sectu) have been granted extra time to question two men aged 26 and 23, from Portsmouth, a 23-year-old woman from Farnborough and a 29-year-old woman from Greenwich who were arrested under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.

Their detention is now authorised until October 28.