U.K. counter terror police investigating 3 recent arson attacks in London

A member of the Jewish community views the scene a day after an antisemitic arson attack in the Golders Green neighborhood of north London, on March 24. (Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

LONDON — Counter terror police in London confirmed on Thursday they are the lead investigator into three separate arson attacks in the capital after two men and a teenager were arrested in connection with an attempted attack on a Persian-language media organization.

Counter Terrorism Policing London said that none of the incidents over the past month are being declared as terrorist incidents but that officers are keeping “an open mind” in respect to the motivation behind the attacks given their similar nature and circumstances.

“These incidents have happened against an operational backdrop of global instability and sustained and increasingly aggressive hostile activity on U.K. soil,” Vicki Evans, senior national coordinator for counter terrorism policing, said in a statement.

“We are now dealing with an unprecedented level of national security investigations with suspected links to foreign states, many of those with dangerous and often reckless intentions,” she added.

Her comments came after London’s Metropolitan Police detailed the events surrounding the latest arson attack on Wednesday evening.

It said officers on patrol in Wembley, north London, responded to reports of a burning container being thrown toward a building. The unspecified container landed in a car park, where the fire went out. There were no reports of any damage or injuries. Armed police then pursued a black SUV, which the suspects were seen leaving in, before the vehicle later crashed. A 16-year-old boy and the men, aged 19 and 21, were arrested on suspicion of arson endangering life and taken into police custody.

The attack took place days into a planned two-week ceasefire in the Middle East after seven weeks of fighting between the U.S. and Israel on one side and Iran on the other. Persian is the primary language of Iran.

Police said the latest attack has not been linked to an attempted arson attack on a synagogue earlier Wednesday, or last month’s torching of four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity in London. Both those attacks took place in north London.

Police said multiple arrests in the past 24 hours have now been made in connection with all three incidents.

The Met said it has sought to increase its visibility in the capital in recent weeks in the wake of the attack on the ambulances.

“We have seen racist and antisemitic hate crimes, and without commenting on live cases, we know that some individuals are being persuaded or paid to act on behalf of foreign organizations and states,” said the Met’s deputy commissioner Matt Jukes.

“Against a backdrop of global instability, sustained conflict overseas and heightened tensions here at home, I fully understand why recent and previous events will be deeply worrying,” he added.

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press