Operation Pathway was a British

counterterrorism Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and Intelligence agency, intelligence ...

operation. The operation first came under public scrutiny when details of its activities were accidentally released in April 2009. The name of the operation, and at least some of its details were inadvertently revealed when Assistant Commissioner for Special Operations Robert Quick was photographed entering

Number 10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in the City of Westminster. It is over 300 ...

with classified documents in plain sight. The operation was hurriedly executed after the security breach resulting in a dozen arrests of suspects of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

i origin in northwest England near

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. Quick resigned on 9 April. The operation continued following Quick's resignation. {{cite news , url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6529436/British-spies-help-prevent-al-Qaeda-inspired-attack-on-New-York-subway.html , title=British spies help prevent al Qaeda-inspired attack on New York subway , publisher=

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

, date=2009-11-09 , author= , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091112014728/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6529436/British-spies-help-prevent-al-Qaeda-inspired-attack-on-New-York-subway.html , url-status=live , archivedate=2009-11-12 On November 9, 2009 ''

'' reported that the operation produced the tip that lead American security officials to place

Najibullah Zazi Najibullah Zazi (, ; born August 10, 1985) is an Afghan-American who was arrested in September 2009 as part of the U.S. al Qaeda group accused of planning suicide bombings on the New York City Subway system, and who pleaded guilty as have two o ...

under investigation. British security officials were reported to have intercepted an email from a Pakistani planner to Najibullah Zazi containing instructions on how to conduct his attack. Najibullah Zazi was alleged to have begun to implement a plan to set off bombs in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on the 2009 anniversary of

Al Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

's WTC attacks on 9-11. His plan was described as the most serious plan against the USA since 9–11.

References

Pathway Counterterrorism in the United Kingdom Islamic terrorism in the United Kingdom Law enforcement operations against Islamist groups