UK serviceman arrested over Northern Irish terrorism

By Michael Sercan Daventry

LONDON (AA) - A British serviceman was arrested Wednesday in connection with Northern Irish terrorism, police said.

The 30-year-old was arrested in Somerset, southwestern England, by counter-terrorism police from London.

In a statement the Metropolitan Police, which leads counter-terror operations around the country, confirmed the suspect was a serving member of the armed forces and said there was no immediate threat to the local community.

The statement did not specify to which branch of the armed forces the suspect belonged.

Searches were being carried out at a property and a wooded area in south Devon, near Somerset, and in Larne, Northern Ireland.

The BBC reported the searches were connected to two arms caches found near Larne earlier this year.

The arrest comes at a time of heightened awareness of extremist groups in Ireland and the U.K., where both nationalist and pro-British loyalist terrorists remain active.

In May, the U.K. raised the threat level from dissident nationalist terrorists for the first time since 2012.