Man shot in anti-terrorism raid

Flashback: Police Re-Authorize Targeted Assassination on Streets Of Britain

A 23-year-old man has been shot by police during a raid involving 250 officers carried out under the Terrorism Act.

He was taken to a nearby hospital after police searched a house in Forest Gate, east London. His injuries are not life-threatening.

A 23-year-old man has been arrested and is currently in custody at a central London police station.

The operation, early on Friday morning, was not linked to the London bombings of July 2005, police added.

The decision to launch the raid followed discussions between MI5, the anti-terrorist branch and the Health Protection Agency.

Police officers in protective clothing have moved into the terraced house in Lansdown Road in what is being described as a "precautionary measure".

A white and yellow tent has been set up outside the property.

Several people who were in the house at the time of the raid have been moved to other premises. They have not been arrested.

Lansdown Road, and neighbouring Rothsay Road and Prestbury Road, are all currently closed.

A 14-year-old boy Nimesh Patel, who saw the raid, said police broke in through a window, and then opened the front door.

He said the person shot appeared to have a shoulder injury.

Another witness said he had seen a man wearing a bloodstained T-shirt being carried out of the house after the raid.

In a statement Scotland Yard said the was no evidence of risk to the public in the area.

"If we believe there is a potential risk, appropriate action will be taken and advice issued," it said.

Surveillance

According to BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw, the raids follow an investigation into international terrorism targeting the UK.

Security sources have described the Forest Gate raid as "potentially significant" and said it followed months of surveillance.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has been informed of the shooting and is investigating.

An IPCC spokesman said: "I can confirm that the incident was immediately referred to the IPCC and we have deployed two senior investigators.

"We can confirm that the man's injuries are not life-threatening."

A Home Office spokesman said: "The home secretary has been kept fully informed of all developments since the operation began in the early hours of the morning."

The Civil Aviation Authority says an air exclusion zone has been set up over east London and will be in place for four days.

Aircraft are banned from flying over the site in Forest Gate below 2,500ft.

Mixed community

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was briefed on the shooting this morning, his spokesman said.

Residents said Forest Gate was a typical east London "mixed" community with a large number of Bengali and Pakistani families, along with a recent influx of Eastern Europeans.

One neighbour said the operation early this morning had involved "the most police I've seen in my life".

Another neighbour said a family lived at the address.

"They were respectable and nice people and we do not know anything else. They have always been nice to us," she said.

"They have lived there for a long time. The kids all go to school locally."