Concert attack ‘targeted youth’
IS claims responsibility after 22 killed, 59 injured in blast
ASUICIDE bomber killed at least 22 people and wounded 59 at a packed concert hall in the British city of Manchester in what Prime Minister Theresa May called a sickening act targeting children and young people.
Islamic State, now being driven from territories in Syria and Iraq by Western-backed armed forces, claimed the attack as revenge against “Crusaders”. But Western experts were sceptical, noting it had offered two accounts of the attack partly contradicting each other and the British police version.
British police moved quickly, arresting a 23-year-old man in connection with Monday night’s bombing, carried out as crowds began leaving a concert given by Ariana Grande, an American singer who attracts a large number of young and teenage fans.
They also raided a property in the district of Fallowfield where they carried out a controlled explosion. Witnesses in the Whalley Range district said armed police had surrounded a new apartment block on a usually quiet tree-lined street.
After a meeting security and intelligence chiefs, May said police believed they knew the identity of the bomber.
“All acts of terrorism are cowardly,” she said. “But this attack 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.”
She said security services were working to see if a wider group was involved in the attack, which came less than three weeks before a national election.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said more police had been ordered on to the streets of the British capital. Monday’s attack was the bloodiest in Britain since four British Muslims killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London’s transport system in 2005.
Witnesses related the horror of the Manchester blast, which unleashed a stampede just as the concert ended at what is Europe’s largest indoor arena, full to a capacity of 21 000.
“We ran and people were screaming around us and pushing on the stairs to go outside, and people were falling down, girls were crying, and we saw these women being treated by paramedics having open wounds on their leg… it was just chaos,” said Sebastian Diaz, 19.
“It was literally just a minute after it ended, the lights came on and the bomb went off.”
A knowledgeable source said the bomber’s explosives were packed with metal and bolts.