LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Thursday they had arrested a woman in London on suspicion of torture during the civil war in Liberia more than 25 years ago.

The 51-year-old was arrested in the east of the capital and searches were being carried out at two addresses in east London and central London, police said in a statement.

Officers were liaising with Britain’s foreign ministry and the prosecution service, it added.

“The allegations relate to atrocities that occurred during the civil war in Liberia between 1989 and 1993,” police said.

From 1989 to 2003, up to a quarter of a million people in the West African nation were killed in a civil war, while thousands more were mutilated and raped.