SOLDIERS ON THE STREETS
As suicide bomber who killed 22 in Manchester is revealed to be a British-born jihadi, PM orders . . .
TROOPS are being deployed to Britain’s streets amid fears of a follow-up terror attack.
Theresa May announced the move last night, 24 hours after a suicide bomber killed 22 concertgoers, including a girl of eight.
The Prime Minister confirmed the identity of the Manchester attacker as British-born Salman Abedi, 22.
Intelligence agencies fear he may not have acted alone – meaning an Islamist terror cell may be on the loose.
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre last night raised the attack threat to its highest level, critical – where an atrocity is ‘highly likely and may be imminent’. Speaking inside Down- ing Street following a meeting of the emergency committee Cobra, Mrs May said: ‘We cannot ignore that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack.’
She insisted the terrorists would be
defeated, adding: ‘The spirit of Manchester and Britain is far mightier than the sick plots of the terrorists. That is why they will never win and we will prevail.’
It is the first time troops have been deployed in mainland Britain since February 003, when Tony Blair sent tanks to guard Heathrow in a terror scare. Soldiers will patrol key sites including sporting and concert venues.
Undercover SAS troopers will join regular soldiers under Operation Temperer. As Manchester mourned:
Frantic parents were still searching for missing youngsters who attended the Ariana Grande show;
Islamic State claimed Abedi as one of its own, a ‘caliphate soldier’;
Donald Trump led the international condemnation, branding the jihadi a loser;
All general election campaigning was suspended until tomorrow at the earliest;
Locals were praised as ‘angels’ for helping hysterical youngsters.
Police were last night quizzing Abedi’s brother Ismail, 3, on suspicion of involvement in the nail bomb attack, the worst UK atrocity since 005.
Sources said although Abedi was known to the security services, he was not under surveillance and officers had no idea he was building a bomb. His father is a suspected jihadi who left the UK in 011 to fight against Colonel Gaddafi in his native Libya.
It was claimed Abedi travelled by train from London to Manchester on Monday, raising suspicions that he may have met co-conspirators or picked up the bomb.
Yesterday police carried out a controlled explosion at his home in southern Manchester. Experts checked the prop- erty for traces of chemicals or explosives. Police have recovered CCTV of Abedi striding into the Manchester Arena on Monday night with what officers believe was a homemade bomb.
Special forces were yesterday moved forward from their base in Hereford to Manchester to provide assistance to the police and security services.
Under the direction of the Counter Terrorist Command the soldiers, many of who have worked with specialist police units in the past few years, joined undercover teams and armed response units.
Army commanders have three infantry battalions of armed soldiers ready to deploy anywhere across the country to support the police.
The rotation of available soldiers changes on a regular basis with paratroopers from 16 Air Assault Brigade currently listed as the ‘in role’ force ready to provide addi- tional public security. The Queen summed up the disgust of the nation at the Manchester attack yesterday, describing it as an ‘act of barbarity’.
A garden party for 8,000 people at Buckingham Palace went ahead yesterday afternoon in line with a minute’s silence before the national anthem.
The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and Princess Eugenie, all stood with their heads bowed in quiet contemplation.
In an unusually strongly-worded message released by Buckingham Palace, the Queen talked of the country’s shock at the loss of life among families who had ‘just been enjoying a concert’.
She also expressed her ‘deepest sympathy’ to all those affected by the ‘dreadful’ events of Monday night, particularly to the family and friends of those who died and were injured.