HUNT FOR THE BOMB MAKER
Police race to prevent new terror attack
POLICE and SAS units were last night hunting the bomb maker behind the Manchester atrocity.
Britain’s terror alert level was raised to critical during a massive counterterror operation – meaning another attack is “imminent” – as six suspects were held in raids.
The SAS are believed to have joined armed police who used explosives to blast their way into a flat in central Manchester to seize evidence.
Yesterday shocking pictures of the remnants of the shrapnel-packed bomb that killed 22 innocent adults and children on Monday night were revealed.
Experts said the bomb was more sophisticated than many other suicide devices, suggesting that a skilled Islamic State bomb maker was behind the attack.
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said: “It’s very clear this is a network we are investigating.”
The homemade device had a more powerful 12-volt battery than is usually seen
in backpack bombs or suicide vests. It was packed with screws, nuts and ball bearings to cause maximum injuries.
The bomb was detonated by a device held in the left hand of bomber Salman Abedi, 22, whose upper torso was hurled out of the foyer.
The blast hit concert-goers as they started to head home after seeing US star Ariana Grande perform on stage.
In other developments yesterday, Abedi’s father Ramadan and youngest brother Hashem, 20, were arrested by Libyan security forces in Tripoli.
And crime scene photographs of the atrocity obtained by the New York Times were published – just hours after Home Secretary Amber Rudd had expressed anger that British intelligence had been made public in the US.
In the UK, detectives were already questioning Abedi’s elder brother Ismail, 23, who was seized on Tuesday.
Three men were also arrested yesterday by police at a property close to Abedi’s home in Fallowfield.
Last night armed officers swooped on a property in Wigan where one man was tackled to the ground and arrested.
A red bag being carried by the man was being examined by officers.
A woman was also arrested during a raid on flats in Blackley, in the north of the city, police confirmed last night.
Crack SAS troops were thought to have supported armed police and blew their way into Grade 2-listed Granby House, less than a mile from the scene of Monday night’s carnage.
Explosion
Residents said a cache of “massive containers” and suspicious packages had recently been seen arriving at the property, suggesting police were looking to uncover a bomb factory.
Witnesses said they saw special forces swoop on the address and heard a “huge bang” yesterday evening.
Resident Chris Barlow said there was a “huge police presence”, adding: “There were about 30 people on the street. They said there’s been an explosion at the flats, a bomb or explosion.”
“There’s CTU (counter terrorism unit) special forces – I spoke to one officer and they said they blew the door in and took a couple of people away.”
The Government activated Operation Temperer – providing up to 3,800 troops to support the police in their security operations.
Chief Constable Hopkins added that officers are carrying out “extensive searches” across Manchester. He said the level of activity in the probe is “intense” and continuing “at pace”.
Asked if officers are looking for the person who made the bomb, he said: “I think it’s very clear that this is a network that we are investigating.”
Yesterday stunned residents spoke of the extraordinary scenes which unfolded as special forces soldiers joined armed police in a military-style raid on the city centre flat in Manchester.
The operation targeted a third-floor flat which is thought to have been rented out on Airbnb.
The military-style operation began at around 12.30pm yesterday when machine gun-toting personnel wearing camouflage gear and balaclavas burst into a residential building known as Granby House building in Granby Row. A nearby rail line linking two of the city’s busiest stations was shut down.
Louise Bolotin, a freelance journalist who lives in the building, told how she fled for her life after hearing an explosion as troops stormed in.
She said: “I came running down the front staircase, six floors, and got to the front entrance and was met by a police officer in full-on tactical helmet, face mask, machine gun.
“I said ‘What’s happening? and he just said ‘Out’. Ms Bolotin added: “I saw armed officers coming out from the back of the building. Again, helmets, face masks, machine guns and getting into unmarked cars and driving away.
“After that about half a dozen Army came out in camouflage, weapons.”
At around 2.30am yesterday armed police swooped on the home of Libyanborn Adel Forjani, 47, believed to be an uncle of the suicide bomber.
Neighbours said he lived there with his wife and two sons aged 26 and 24.
One, Omar Alfakhuri, 59, said: “I saw the father being led out of the house he was handcuffed with his hands behind his back. The armed police man was shouting at him.
“Then I saw the rest of the family were taken out, one after the other.”
Yesterday a relative, who did not want to be named, told how Abedi had become radicalised.
He said: “His whole family moved to Libya last year. He went with them but he must have came back recently.
“I didn’t know he was in the country but the authorities must have known as soon as he arrived at the airport but no-one did anything about it.
“If my own father told me to stay away from such a **** head like him, how could other people not notice?” he said.