London: Police in the southwestern city of Bristol Saturday carried out a series of controlled explosions at the home of a British teenager arrested earlier on charges of terrorism.

The local media named the man as Andrew Ibrahim, described as a 19-year-old British Muslim convert, but police refused to comment on his identity or ethnicity.

Police raided Ibrahim's house in a Bristol cul-de-sac and carried out the first controlled explosion at 2 a.m. Friday after arresting the man under the Terrorism Act, acting on an intelligence tip-off.

Two further explosions were conducted Saturday but police did not give out details of what they had destroyed. Some 30 residents of the area were evacuated and some of them had to spend the night away from their homes.

Another 40 to 50 people were moved out Saturday morning as bomb disposal experts carried out their work. The local media said Ibrahim had moved into the area three weeks ago and had recently converted to Islam.

Local Muslim leader Farooq Siddique said Ibrahim was "not known" to Bristol's Muslim community. He said: "This is obviously a very difficult time for the Muslim community in Bristol. It is a blow to community relationships in the city. "We want the police to be allowed to do their jobs as simply and as quickly as possible. We need to be united in this."

 

Source : IANS