London (CNN) -- Nine men have been arrested in the United Kingdom on suspicion of terror offenses, London's Metropolitan Police said Thursday.
The men, aged from 22 to 51 years old, were all detained on Thursday morning in London on suspicion of being a member of a banned organization, supporting a banned organization and encouraging terrorism.
The men have all been taken to police stations in central London and remain in custody, the police statement said.
Eighteen homes, business premises and community buildings across London are being searched as part of the investigation. Officers are also searching a home in Stoke on Trent in the English Midlands.
'These arrests and searches are part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist related terrorism and are not in response to any immediate public safety risk,' said the Met Police statement.
The police did not give the identities of those arrested nor name the proscribed organization concerned.
The Home Office has listed 60 international proscribed terrorist organizations as of August 2014.
They include networks such as ISIS and al Qaeda, as well as UK-based Islamist groups such as Al Muhajiroun, which emerged in 1996 and has operated under a range of other names since being disbanded in 2004.
The UK Home Office last month raised its terror threat level from 'substantial' to 'severe.'
The government also announced a number of new measures to combat the threat from Islamist extremism, including a radical new measure to ban Britons from coming home once they join jihadi ranks abroad.
UK authorities estimate that 500 Britons have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight with Islamist groups.
CNN's Max Foster contributed to this report.
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, September 25, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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