UK cranks up terror alert
Soldiers were being deployed to key sites in Britain yesterday to prevent attacks after the nation’s terror threat level was raised to its highest following the suicide bombing in Manchester that killed 22 people, including children.
Last night police made three more arrests in connection with the attack amid fears the bomber did not act alone.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced that the threat level was now considered “critical”, meaning an attack may be imminent.
Troops are being sent to sites including Buckingham Palace, Downing St and embassies.
Police named British-born Salman Abedi, 22, as the perpetrator of the bombing at the Manchester Arena at the end of a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande on Tuesday, which was attended by thousands of children and teenagers.
Interior Minister Amber Rudd said Abedi was known to the security services and probably did not act alone. “It seems likely, possible, that he wasn’t doing this on his own so the intelligence services and the police are pursuing their leads in order to make sure they get all the information . . . that they need to keep us safe,” Rudd told BBC radio.
The identities of the victims, including an 8-year-old girl, were becoming known little by little.
The bombing also left dozens wounded, some with lifethreatening injuries. The Manchester Evening News website put the number injured at 120. “Whilst some of what we are doing will be obvious to the public there is a huge amount of work happening day and night that the public will never know about,” said Commander Jane Connors, leading the London police operation. The Ministry of Defence announced that the Changing the Guard ceremony had been cancelled to redeploy police officers. United States security sources, citing British intelligence officials, said Abedi was born in Manchester in 1994 to parents of Libyan origin.
British investigators were looking into whether Abedi had travelled to Libya and whether he had been in touch with Islamic State (Isis) militants there or in Syria.
The Times newspaper said Abedi was believed to have returned to Britain from Libya recently, while French authorities said the suspect had probably travelled to Syria.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said: “Today we only know what British investigators have told us — someone of British nationality, of Libyan origin, who suddenly after a trip to Libya, then probably to Syria, becomes radicalised and decides to carry out this attack.”