‘Suicide bomber likely did not act alone’
MANCHESTER: The suicide bomber who killed 22 people including children in Manchester likely did not act alone, Britain's interior minister said as soldiers were being deployed to key sites to help prevent further attacks.
The official threat level was raised to its highest level, meaning an attack is expected imminently.
Police have named British- born Salman Abedi, 22, as the perpetrator of the bombing at the Manchester Arena indoor venue at the end of a concert by US pop singer Ariana Grande on Monday, attended by thousands of children and teenagers.
“It seems likely, possible, that he wasn’t doing this on his own,” interior minister Amber Rudd told BBC radio.
Rudd also said Abedi had been known to security services before the bombing.
She said up to 3,800 soldiers would be deployed on Britain's streets, freeing up police officers to carry out patrols and investigatory work.
The identities of the victims were becoming known little by little. They included an eight-year-old girl, two teenage girls and a 28-yearold man. A Polish couple who had come to collect their daughters after the concert also died, Poland’s foreign minister said. The daughters were safe.
The bombing also left more than 60 people wounded, some with life-threatening injuries.
US security sources, citing British intelligence officials, said Abedi was born in Manchester in 1994 to parents of Libyan origin.
Rudd told the BBC she believed Abedi had recently returned from Libya, and French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said British investigators had told French authorities Abedi had probably travelled to Syria as well.
As Collomb was speaking in France, Rudd was asked by the BBC about the fact that lots of information about Abedi, including his name, had come out from the United States and whether she would look again at information sharing with other countries.
“Yes, quite frankly. I mean the British police have been very clear that they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity, the element of surprise, so it is irritating if it gets released from other sources and I have been very clear with our friends that should not happen again.”