British police have discovered a bomb factory in Leeds indicating that there are plans for future terrorist attacks similar to the London bomb blasts that killed at least 52 and injured hundreds.
The police have also located at Luton station one of the three cars used by the four British nationals of Pakistani origin for reaching their rendezvous. Explosives were found in the car, the police said.
A second car found at the station is also being examined. It was taken to a storage facility at the Leighton Buzzard area.
While there was satisfaction within the police and intelligence services as they appeared to have identified a bombing team so swiftly, there were also fears. The first is that the finding of more explosives in Leeds indicates that this was not a one-off attack and that there were plans for further attacks.
The second is the fear of attacks on ethnic minorities by far-right groups as it became clear that these were not foreign militants entering the country, but home-grown bombers.
Closed circuit television films from around 8.20 am on the fateful day show the four young men, all with identical large rucksacks similar to those carried by infantry soldiers on their backs. The four appeared relaxed.
The police were alerted to the existence of one of the four when his distressed family in Leeds called the casualty bureau hotline shortly after 10 pm on Thursday, the day of the blasts in the London Underground and a bus.
Their son had been traveling to London 'with his mates' and had not returned. A family liaison officer was dispatched to be with the family, like in the case of all those believed to have lost relatives in the blasts.
