U.K. confident bomber’s network now crippled

LONDON— British counterterrorism authorities believe they have rounded up most of the network suspected of involvement in Monday’s terrorist bombing in Manchester, but the country remained braced for further violence ahead of a sunny long weekend packed with marathons, soccer matches and other ripe targets.

The announcement eased worries from earlier in the week that the sophistication of the suicide blast that killed 22 people meant that a bombmaker could still be on the loose with further attacks planned. But authorities still cautioned vigilance, and more than a thousand soldiers remained deployed across Britain, an unusual measure in a country where few police officers carry weapons.

“We’re very happy we’ve got our hands around some of the key players that we’re concerned about,” said assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, the head of National Counterterrorism Policing at the Metropolitan Police. He said investigators were trying to unravel 22-year-old Salman Abedi’s life and also to reconstruct his final days and hours.

British Home Secretary Amber Rudd on Friday kept the country’s threat level at “critical,” the highest state of alert, leaving in place 1,000 troops who have been deployed to Britain’s streets to supplement the police. The security alert indicates authorities believe new attacks are imminent.

But top officials said they had no specific knowledge of threats during the upcoming weekend; Monday is a holiday in Britain.

There were signs of the strain on Britain’s diverse society, as Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said that hate crimes in the city had doubled after the Monday-night attack, spiking from 28 on Monday to 56 on Wednesday.

In an early morning raid on a barbershop in the Moss Side neighbourhood of the terror-hit city, police on Friday arrested a 30-year-old man, bringing to eight the number of people currently in custody. Their ages ranged from 18 to 38. An additional two people were detained, then released, earlier this week. Part of Abedi’s family lives in Libya, and several were also in custody there, including his father.

Police also raided an apartment building in Manchester’s city centre where Abedi is believed to have rented a $97-a-day flat in the week ahead of the attack and where bomb-making materials were found in the days after the raid. British media reported that enough spare nuts, bolts and chemicals were discovered there to have constructed another bomb. Local journalists reported Friday that forensics teams were again searching inside the building.