Were they on way to bomb EDL rally? Police probe after Taliban-style bomb found in car boot

Counter-terror police were yesterday investigating whether two men found with a bomb in their car were on their way to attack an English Defence League rally. They discovered the Afghanistan-style explosive device by sheer chance when they pulled over the vehicle on the M1.

Also hidden in the boot were two guns, ammunition and leaflets warning "infidels” not to follow the EDL, David Cameron and the Queen.

One theory is the two male occupants were planning to bomb a march by the notorious anti-Islamic group taking place just hours after they were stopped.

Officers only discovered the guns and bomb two days after impounding the car for having no insurance last Saturday.

By then police had already let the driver and passenger go.

Detectives traced the owner of the car and armed police carried out raids in Birmingham and West Yorkshire this week. Seven men were arrested.

It is the first time such an improvised explosive device – used by Taliban insurgents to kill British troops in Afghanistan – has been found in the UK.

Almost 500 members of the far-right EDL marched in Dewsbury last Saturday, where one of the suspects lives.

They had widely publicised the event – bragging that they were coming to take over the "Islamic republic of Dewsbury”. (...)