Police: Syria-related terror arrests in Britain jumped 6-fold last year

LONDON – British police say that the number of arrests for suspected Syria-related terror offenses in the country increased six-fold last year.

Scotland Yard said police made 165 arrests across the country for offenses including the financing, commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, and attending a terrorist training camp. That compares to 25 Syria-related arrests in 2013.

Counter-terrorism policing coordinator Helen Ball said Friday police have been running "exceptionally high numbers of investigations, the likes of which we have not seen for many years."

She said most of the disrupted plots appeared to be inspired or directed by terrorism overseas.

In August, the terror threat level in Britain was raised from "substantial" to "severe," the second-highest level, in response to threats from extremist groups in Iraq and Syria.