UK police foil second alleged London terror plot in a day

Police in London say they have foiled a second active terror plot in 24 hours, after arresting six people in raids across the British capital and southeast England.

A woman shot by police in the latest counterterrorism investigation remains in a serious but stable condition. The investigation is ongoing but the threat is "contained," London's Metropolitan Police said Friday.

Police said the operation late Thursday night was not related to an earlier arrest near the British parliament, where officers detained a man armed with knives on suspicion of planning a terror attack, in what Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu described as "an extraordinary day" in London.

"Due to these arrests that we have made, I believe that we have contained the threats that they posed," he said.The woman was shot Thursday evening as armed officers entered a house in Willesden, in the city's north-west. Six other suspects have been arrested in connection with the raid, Basu told reporters Friday.

He confirmed that police believe they have foiled an active terror plot with the arrests.

Witness Sean Rahilly said he was at St Mary Magdalen Church when he heard gun shots just before 7 p.m. local time. "Everyone outside the church was confused (about) what was happening. Within one minute of the gun shots armed police showed up," he said.

Police said that intensive work was underway to contain the terror threat in the UK. "I wanted to reassure the public that our increased activity to combat terrorism over the last two years continues -- both by police and security services. Activity continues around the clock to identify and stop these threats and we are making arrests on a near daily basis," Basu said.