What was supposed to be a night of fun and enjoyment turned to disaster when a suspected suicide attacker let off an explosion in the foyer of Manchester Arena.
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“I want to reassure people that the arrests that we have made are significant and initial searches of premises have revealed items that we believe are very important to the investigation”.
People yesterday observe a minute of silence for the victims of the Manchester Arena attack, in St Ann’s Square, in central Manchester, Britain.
Eight men have now been detained in connection with Monday’s attack.
A source said British investigators were hunting for anyone who may have helped build the suicide bomb.
Manchester police said on Wednesday they’re investigating a network they think orchestrated the bombing, and the suspected perpetrator’s father and brother were arrested in Tripoli.
A family friend, however, told the Times he believed Abedi was “radicalised by mosques in south Manchester” rather than jihadis overseas. Another man is arrested in the Manchester area, police said without giving further details.
Focus also reported that German authorities are trying to determine whether Abedi had contact with Islamic extremists in Germany. They returned to Libya in 2011 after Gadhafi’ regime collapsed. Abedi’s father was once part of a Libyan militant group with alleged ties to al-Qaeda, a Libyan security source said yesterday.
Earlier, Sky News claimed that they have found evidence linking Salman Abedi to an IS cell operating in Manchester.
According to a family friend who asked not to be identified, the boys’ father had taken his sons to Libya in mid-April and confiscated their passports so they couldn’t return to the United Kingdom where they’d been in trouble with gangs.
Information in so-called “IS Files” – a huge cache of documents obtained by “Sky News” – shows how an IS fighter called Raphael Hostey, from Moss Side in the south of Manchester, sponsored hundreds of terror recruits. Manchester police arrested a man reported to be Abedi’s brother.
USA intelligence officials also prematurely leaked information about the suspected bomber on Tuesday, which led to the publication of Salman Abedi’s name, as well the fact that the attack was a suicide bomb.
British officials said the United States leaks had undermined an ongoing investigation into a suspected terror network including a search for bomb makers.
At least 22 people were killed and dozens others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the end of a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande outside the Manchester Arena.
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Twenty-two people were killed and 116 injured, 75 of whom remain in hospital.
