Russia 'used UK parcel fire as test run for US attacks'

Polish spy chief believes the attacks in Birmingham, Leipzig and Vilnius were carried out under the direction of Moscow

- TOM WATLING

A suspected Russian arson attack on a DHL warehouse in Birmingham was a test run for future attacks on the US, Polish officials have said, after arresting some of the alleged criminals involved.

British counterterrorism officers, working alongside European partners, are investigating the explosion of a device on 22 July at a warehouse in Minworth. Nobody was injured in the fire.

But after another attack that same month involving an incendiary device in a DHL warehouse in Leipzig, eastern Germany, investigators said the parcel only narrowly missed igniting while on board an aircraft, which could have caused fatalities.