Another jihadist attack on the 22nd – security chiefs investigate link

SECURITY agencies are examining whether the attack was deliberately timed for the 22nd day of the month.

The Manchester atrocity came four years to the day after the murder of Lee Rigby in London in May 22, 2013. It was also exactly two months after the Westminster attack of March 22.

Two suicide bombings took place in Brussels on March 22 last year. Four months later – on July 22 – a teenager killed nine people at a shopping centre in Munich.

But other major attacks by jihadists, such as those in Paris and Nice, took place on different days of the month.

Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale rammed Fusilier Rigby with their car before attacking him with knives and trying to decapitate him outside his barracks in Woolwich.

Mr Rigby’s mother Lyn yesterday said the Manchester atrocity had taken her back to the day her son died. ‘We must stand against terrorism,’ she said in a statement. ‘My heart goes out to all families affected by the terrorist attack.

‘On the fourth anniversary of Lee’s death I have been taken back to how we felt as a family as events unfolded via the media in front of our eyes. On an evening when families with children were out enjoying themselves, some parents find themselves now in the same situation. Whole families affected forever.’

While it is not yet known whether 22 has any meaning, some Old Testament studies suggest the number can represent disorganisation and chaos.