Two men arrested on January 20 in Manchester and Birmingham, as well as two minors arrested in South Manchester on January 17, were also released without charge earlier.
"As part of the local investigation, one man arrested in Manchester on Wednesday 26 January 2022 was released on Thursday 27 January 2022. The second male arrested in Manchester on Wednesday 26 January 2022 has today been released from Police Custody,” CTPNW said, adding that “officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West are continuing to support US authorities with their investigation into the incident in Texas.”
On January 15, a British citizen Malik Faisal Akram took four people hostage in the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, during Sabbath services. The hostages managed to escape and Akram, who had reportedly arrived in the United States two weeks earlier, was shot dead by police.
According to reports, the hostage-taker claimed to be the brother of convicted Pakistani terrorist Aafia Siddiqui, who allegedly had ties to al-Qaeda*. The hostage-taker was reportedly demanding freedom for Siddiqui, who is now serving an 86-year sentence in a US federal prison for trying to kill American officers in Afghanistan.