Group of five men and one woman aged in their 20s questioned by West Midlands police after being stopped at port at 8am on Friday

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Six people have been arrested in Dover on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offences, West Midlands police said.



In a series of tweets, police said five men and one woman were detained at about 8am on Friday in the departure zone of the port.

The group is currently being questioned at a police station in the West Midlands while searches are continuing at a number of addresses in Birmingham.

The force said: “The suspects, who are not a family group and were not accompanied by children, did not pose any immediate risk to public safety.”





Four of the men arrested are from Birmingham, including a man aged 25 from Small Heath, 26 from Acocks Green, 26 from Alum Rock and 28 from Lozells.

A 26 year old man and a woman aged 23, both of no fixed abode, were also detained.

The arrests come a day after Turkish security forces detained nine British nationals who were allegedly attempting to enter Syria. The group, five adults and four children from Rochdale in northern England, included the 21-year-old student son of a local councillor.



British security services estimate around 600 Britons have gone to Syria or Iraq to join militant groups. About half are thought to have returned.