NET CLOSES IN ON EVIL BOMBERS
SECURITY forces have now smashed open the Manchester bombing terror network, it was revealed last night.
Police say significant progress had been made to prevent a feared second attack.
After days of raids and arrests officers said a big blow has been dealt to killer Salman Abedi’s Islamic State-inspired group.
And over the past 48 hours antiterror detectives have exposed a
“large part” of his operation that supported Monday’s slaughter.
With bomb-making equipment found, police have also collected digital evidence, CCTV, found hundreds of witnesses and launched a major terrorfunding probe.
Britain’s top counter terrorism officer Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley yesterday confirmed their inquiries have stretched as far as Libya.
He said: “We have already got hold of a large part of the network including some very significant arrests and some significant finds.
“We have not covered all the territory we want to but we have covered a large part of it. Our confidence has been increasing over recent days.”
His message to Britons this Bank Holiday weekend was to “go out, enjoy yourselves and be reassured by the greater policing presence you’ll see”.
The number of armed police on patrol this weekend is likely to be increased by 50 per cent with additional officers at events such as the FA Cup Final at Wembley and the Aviva Premiership Final at Twickenham.
Yesterday armed officers were also seen patrolling beaches at resorts such as Scarborough and Blackpool.
Challenging
British-born Abedi, 22, exploded a rucksack packed with nuts and bolts after US singer Ariana Grande’s concert at Manchester Arena, killing 22 people and injuring 119.
He had practised making bombs in a rented flat weeks before he carried out his murderous attack.
A total of 66 people remained in hospital last night, with 23 still in critical care – five of whom are young children.
So far nine suspected associates, aged between 18 and 44, are being quizzed by counter-terror detectives.
One of them is Abedi’s older brother Ismail, 23, a married IT worker. A woman and a 16-year-old boy previously arrested have been released without charge.
Last night a 44-year-old man was arrested in Rusholme on suspicion of terrorism offences in connection with the bombing, police said.
Yesterday saw two further armed police raids, taking the total of swoops – some supported by SAS troops – to 14. The targets by anti-terror officers were a pizza parlour in St Helens, Merseyside, and Abedi’s favourite barbers in Moss Side, Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said 12 locations had been searched and thousands of items examined.
He said: “I think it is fair to say it has been an extremely challenging week, and we are still in the middle of a live investigation.
“There are are still 12 locations across Greater Manchester being searched, and that activity will continue. We have seized thousands of exhibits which are now being assessed. I think it is fair to say that there has been enormous progress with the investigation but still an awful lot of work to do.”
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the UK terror threat level will remain at “critical” – meaning an attack is imminent – while the operation continues. It means the Army has been called in to support police on armed patrols, such as in London’s Whitehall yesterday.
The North Africa link confirms fears Abedi spearheaded a cadre of Mancunian youths who joined rebels in Libya on to battle Colonel Gadaffi’s forces.
In the Libyan capital Tripoli Abedi’s younger brother Hashem, 20, and their father Ramadan are being held by special forces linked to their interior ministry.
A Libyan official has said Hashem claimed he and Salman were IS fighters and admitted he knew of his brother’s aim to carry out an attack.
An ex-classmate of Hashem claims he left school when he was 14 to go to fight in Libya, returning “much more Islamic and wearing traditional salafi clothing”.
Abedi’s parents fled to Manchester as refugees in the 1990s, as opponents of Gaddafi’s vicious regime.
A former Libyan intelligence officer, Ramadan was also linked to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group which wanted to overthrow Gaddafi.
When the dictator purged them many were granted refuge in the UK and came to Manchester.
But after they arrived many were suspected by MI5 of being aligned to Al-Qaeda.
In 2011, Ramadan flew back to Libya to join the February 17th Martyr’s Brigade, one of the key fighting units seeking to topple Gadaffi. Salman Abedi regularly returned to Libya to fight alongside his father – and in 2015 was shot in Ajdabiya while fighting.
Now it is feared young British-born Libyans have recently switched their allegiances to IS.
Living nearby in Moss Side was Rap-
hael Hostey, who played a key role for IS in bringing Britons to Syria to fight. He died in a drone strike last year.
Six people from south Manchester have died fighting for IS, four more are still active and six in jail.
Security Minister Ben Wallace admits there are between 400 and 500 active UK terror investigations. There are up to 18,000 people who have come to the attention of security services.
He said: “We used to say that a terrorist only has to be lucky once. We have to be lucky all the time.”