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22 Nov, 2018 00:42

Home renovation ends in terror alert after 2 IEDs found in London flat

Home renovation ends in terror alert after 2 IEDs found in London flat

The counter-terrorism division of the London Metropolitan police has launched an investigation regarding two hand-made bombs discovered in a Harlesden flat. No suspects have been identified.

Police were alerted to the presence of two suspicious devices in a flat in London's Harlesden at around 9.30 am on Wednesday. Upon arriving at the scene, officers put the area on lockdown, cordoning off the house. The entire building was evacuated as police defused the devices.

The suspicious packages were indeed makeshift bombs, according to the police's early assessment. They disarmed devices have been handed over to forensics for detailed analysis. It is still unclear who planted the bombs in the apartment, which was unoccupied while it underwent renovation.

The cordons were only lifted later in the evening, though Chief Superintendent Simon Rose said that investigators would continue to work at the flat.

Police also scoured the nearby area to see if any other buildings had been rigged with explosives, but no further threats were found, according to Rose.

READ MORE: ‘Anti-Islamic’ terror suspect ‘plotted to blow up mosque to avenge death of Manchester Arena child’

"I also want to reassure the local community that we have carried out precautionary searches in the surrounding area to make sure there was nothing else of a similar nature nearby, which I'm pleased to confirm is the case," he said in a statement.

No arrests have been made so far.

Meanwhile, reports have emerged that at least one of the recovered devices was a pipe bomb. A local woman told the Evening Standard that the police told her they believed a "suspected pipe bomb" had caused the alarm.

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