Jihadi ‘bomb attack on Christmas market was just days away’
Security sources believe the four men were planning to bomb a Christmas market in or around London in the next few days
A CHRISTMAS bomb attack was foiled as armed police arrested four suspected jihadis in dawn raids.
Three men were held in Sheffield and one in Chesterfield, Derbys.
Witnesses told how anti-terror police blasted open doors and used stun grenades in dawn raids on five addresses.
They arrested four men suspected of planning a bomb atrocity within the next few days — with security sources saying they may have been intending to target a Christmas market in or around London.
Dozens of neighbouring homes were evacuated as officers stormed four properties in Sheffield and a suspected bomb factory above a fish and chip shop in Chesterfield, Derbys.
Lizzie Fogarty, 27, was woken at 5.30am as officers swooped in Meersbrook, Sheffield.
She said: “There was an enormous bang. It shook our flat.
“The police were all in black with helmets on and guns. They were shouting, ‘Get down, get down!’ It was insane.”
About four miles away in the Burngreave area police blew open the doors of two properties, including a community centre, before arresting two men.
One witness said: “They were in full kit with guns and everything. We’re on the front line here.”
Another, who lives opposite the Fatima Community Centre, said: “I saw armed police take somebody out the back of the building. The centre is used for prayers every day, it’s like a mosque.”
Jordan Batteson was heading home from his Tesco night shift in Chesterfield as police grabbed a man aged 31.
He said: “I saw him sat in the back of the police van. He had nothing on top and was just wearing his pants.”
Another local said: “Police were banging on my door and shouting, ‘You have ten minutes to get out!'”
The three Sheffield suspects are aged 22, 36 and 41.
The bomb squad was called in at Chesterfield amid fears of a chemical device.
All four suspects were being held on terror charges.
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The swoops came after months of surveillance by police and MI5.
Police foiled a similar plot last December.
The North East Counter-Terrorism Unit said: “We would ask people to remain alert but not alarmed.”
