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Army boots on the ground amid fears bomber had a ‘network’
BRITAIN was on high alert last night amid fears that the terrorists behind the Manchester bombing are ready to unleash fresh carnage at any moment.
Around 1000 troops trained to shoot to kill were deployed to guard key locations around the country.
Security services were in a race against time to find the mastermind behind Monday’s Manchester Arena massacre after the terror threat level was raised to “critical”.
Police were hunting a network linked to bomber Salman Abedi – believing he was just a “mule” detonating a device made by another extremist.
A police source said: “They don’t waste bomb-makers. The reason we’ve gone to critical is because he is still out there and the fear is that he will strike again before they get caught.”
Greater Manchester Police chief constable Ian Hopkins said it was very clear that police were investigating “a network” linked to the bomber.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said it is likely Abedi was not acting alone as she confirmed up to 3800 troops can be deployed across the nation.
She stressed it was a temporary measure.
Soldiers in combat fatigues, carrying highpowered SA-80 rifles usually only fired in war zones, patrolled with police through Whitehall in central London yesterday.
Theresa May stressed that they were under the command of the police, who would decide where and how they are used. It came after the Prime Minister raised the threat level to its maximum, saying a “wider group of individuals” may have been involved in the attack in which 22 were killed and 64 injured. Police were told the “critical” level could be in place for a week. Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street and embassies were among sites being guarded under Operation Temperer, the first deployment of its kind in Britain.
But the decision to send in the military alongside armed police officers was met with concern by many in policing.
Retired Met detective Peter Kirkham said: “Police officers are trained to shoot to stop. The military have their own rules of engagement. Usually a soldier will be shooting to kill.
“Training to become a police firearms officer involves conflict resolution tactics and learning when to fire and when not to.
“The military haven’t had this, and they’re not going to have batons and Tasers.
“It will be all or nothing with them.” Kirkham said the number
of police firearms officers is down to 2010 levels due to cuts brought in by May when she was home secretary.
Police Federation chairman Steve White said of the Operation Temperer deployment: “Welcome as this is, we can’t avoid the reason it is needed.”
White said the Government must ensure there is a “resilient, fully resourced police service” available to protect the public. He added: “There is no ignoring the fact that we, the police, simply do not have the resources to manage an event like this on our own.”
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick yesterday visited troops and officers guarding Parliament.
She said the soldiers would free up armed police to go on to the streets “to support the public, and to protect the public and to protect events”.
In Scotland, new security measures have been put in place at Holyrood,
transport hubs and entertainment venues such as Glasgow’s SSE Hydro.
Armed officers were at main train stations including Glasgow Central, Queen Street and Edinburgh’s Haymarket and Waverley.
Organisers of Sunday’s Edinburgh Marathon are in talks with police about increasing security for the event.
And heightened security at Rosyth Dockyard in Fife sparked traffic chaos in the area yesterday as vehicles were stopped and checked. Tailbacks quickly grew as workers tried to get in and out of the naval yard, where two £3billion aircraft carriers are being built.
In Manchester yesterday, faith leaders held hands and paused for a moment of silence in a show of defiance. Bishop of Manchester David Walker and Imam Irfan Chishti, of Manchester Central Mosque, were among the religious figures who joined crowds of Mancunians to express their unity.
Mohammad el-Khayat, leader of Manchester Islamic Centre’s trustees, called for people with information on Abedi to come forward. He said the attack had shocked us all, adding: “This act of cowardice has no place in our religion or any other religion.”
Voicing his anger at reports of Abedi’s links with the mosque, he said: “Some media reports have reported that the bomber worked at the Manchester Islamic Centre.
“This is not true. A very small section of the media are manufacturing stories.”