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TERROR IN SUBURBIA

Dramatic moment gun cops step over kid’s toys and creep under clothes lines as they detain ‘smirking’ terror suspect in daylight raid

An officer, dressed all in black, is seen in the back garden of the house wielding an assault rifle

THIS is the heart-stopping moment a neighbour saw armed police train an assault rifle on the upstairs window of a terror suspect in a suburb of Birmingham before detaining a "smirking" suspect.

The officer is seen dressed all in black in the back garden of the house as a fellow cop helps survey the area in an operation which is understood to be linked to the London terror attack.

 An armed officer trains an assault rifle on the upstairs window on a property in Birmingham
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An armed officer trains an assault rifle on the upstairs window on a property in BirminghamCredit: SWNS:South West News Service

One local, Shekila Sahota, said a man in either his 40s or his 50s had lived there for one year.

She said: "The man they led away was put in the van straight away and he had a big smirk on his face when they took him away."

A neighbour who took the pictures at 6.30am tomorrow morning, who only wanted to give his first name Ricardo, said: "There was just guns in the back garden, it was crazy.

"I was up and awake because I was literally about to go to Tesco's.

"I was getting my stuff together when there was a 'boom boom' noise.

"I went to my window and there three cops with guns running up to the back window.

"There was shouting and screaming for ages, I couldn't hear what they were saying but it was proper loud.

"It sounded like there were loads of people in there.

 Police search the garden of a property on Navigation Way in Hockley, Birmingham, after further arrests were made in connection with the Westminster attack
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Police search the garden of a property on Navigation Way in Hockley, Birmingham, after further arrests were made in connection with the Westminster attackCredit: SWNS:South West News Service

"They just stood there for like an hour or 45 minutes. Just standing there with guns and stuff in the garden.

"They were making sure that no one was going to try and escape round the back or anything like that.

"Then after like an hour, they moved away from the window and just stood there with their guns, not talking or doing anything.

 Cops were seen by locals "just standing there with guns and stuff in the garden"
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Cops were seen by locals "just standing there with guns and stuff in the garden"Credit: PA:Press Association
 One local said: "I had no idea what the hell was going on and now people are saying it's something to do with the attack in London"
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One local said: "I had no idea what the hell was going on and now people are saying it's something to do with the attack in London"Credit: PA:Press Association

"They were there in the back garden for another two hours, then they moved away, and went into the front of the house I think.

"I had no idea what the hell was going on and now people are saying it's something to do with the attack in London.

"The guy who lives at the house is very-antisocial, he would never talk to anyone and would just be walking around the street by himself.

"He walked up and down every night making phone calls, but they weren't in English so I could understand them.

 Officers search the area and cordon off a property in Birmingham
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Officers search the area and cordon off a property in BirminghamCredit: PA:Press Association

"Cars would come outside his house every day, and men would come out and go into his house to talk to him."

West Midlands Police referred all queries about the raid to the Metropolitan Police.

Nine people remain in custody as police investigate Wednesday's tragic terror attack in London, in which four victims lost their lives.

Police officers made two "significant" arrests overnight.

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