Ten men still being quizzed by detectives
POLICE still have 10 men in custody as part of the huge investigation into the Manchester Arena suicide bombing.
The probe, which has involved more than 1,000 officers, shows no sign of slowing as detectives and intelligence services seek to dismantle Salman Abedi’s terror network.
Raids, including controlled explosions as police enter properties, have taken place across Greater Manchester in the wake of the atrocity.
Police have so far made 16 arrests in the UK, with 10 men remaining in custody.
GMP said last night that a 21-year-old man arrested on May 24 in the Nuneaton area of Warwickshire had been released without charge.
Police revealed late on Tuesday that three men arrested in connection with the attack had been released without charge. Another two people detained were released last week.
Two men, aged 20 and 24, were released after being arrested in Fallowfield the day after the blast.
A 37-year-old man arrested in Blackley last Thursday was also released.
A 16-year-old boy detained in Withington and a 34-year-old woman arrested Blackley were released without charge last week.
Police said the release of ‘some people can be expected in investigations of this nature’ as officers corroborate accounts.
Bomber Abedi’s father, Ramadan, and brother Hashem are also in custody in Tripoli, Libya.
Det Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said officers are still trying to understand why Abedi repeatedly visited Wilmslow Road with a blue suitcase.
He said the bomber bought the key components for the deadly device himself – and that he was along for much of the four days before the attack, on Monday May 22.
DCS Jackson said police cannot rule out that Abedi was part of a wider network.