BRITAIN IN RACE TO FOIL SECOND ATTACK
Troops deployed on streets for first time since 2003
LONDON • Up to 5,000 soldiers will be deployed on the streets amid fears that the Manchester suicide bomber had accomplices preparing further attacks, Theresa May announced Tuesday night.
For the first time in 10 years, the prime minister raised the terror threat to the highest possible level, from severe to critical, meaning an attack is “expected imminently.”
Investigators fear that the British-born bomber Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old of Libyan descent, was part of a wider network of ISIL-inspired terrorists, including a bombmaker, who may still be at large.
Special Forces were deployed Tuesday night to Manchester ready to engage in the hunt for accomplices of Abedi, who killed 22 concert-goers in Britain’s worst terrorist atrocity for 12 years.
Outlining the increased risk, May said: “It is a possibility we cannot ignore that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack.”
May also announced that troops would replace police officers at set-piece events including sports venues and concerts.
It will be the first time since 2003 — when the government reacted to a plot to bring down an airliner — that troops are deployed on the streets.
With the FA Cup final this weekend, the prime minister acted on the advice of the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre after chairing two meetings of the Cobra emergency committee. Security will also be stepped up at major public events and terrorist targets such as railway stations and airports.
It is the first time Britain has been on maximum terrorist alert since 2007, when a blazing car loaded with gas canisters was driven into Glasgow Airport.
A 23-year-old man was arrested in Manchester Tuesday in connection with the attack and was being questioned last night.
Intelligence experts believe the device detonated at a concert by U.S. pop singer Ariana Grande at the Manchester Arena on Monday night was so sophisticated that Abedi must have either been given specialist training abroad or used a bomb made by a technician who has not yet been captured.
It emerged that Abedi had travelled to Libya, raising fears he had been trained there and posing questions for the security services on whether he should have been tracked.
May, who suspended the campaign for the June 8 election, described the bombing as “one of the worst terrorist incidents we have ever experienced in the United Kingdom” and said it “stands out for its appalling, sickening cowardice — deliberately targeting innocent, defenceless children and young people who should have been enjoying one of the most memorable nights of their lives.”
The Queen described the attack as “barbaric” in a message of support to the people of Manchester. Vigils for the dead and wounded were held in Manchester and other cities across the U.K.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the bomber and any accomplices were “evil losers in life.” He said: “I won’t call them monsters because they would like that term. I will call them losers.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, China’s President Xi and Germany’s Chancellor Merkel were also among those who sent messages to the prime minister. Later this week May will travel to the G7 summit in Sicily where she will lead discussions on anti-terrorism measures with other leaders.