UK raises threat level to ‘critical’

London, May 24 

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the UK has raised the threat level to maximum and the government was preparing to send soldiers on to streets as a second terror attack may be imminent after the Manchester pop concert bombing.

May raised the threat level from severe to critical for the first time since 2007, saying the decision was taken after security forces were unable to rule out if Salman Abedi, the British-born suspect behind Monday’s suicide bombing at the concert in Manchester city that killed 22 persons, acted alone.

The raising of the threat level mean further attacks may be imminent. The move will see the Army deployed to secure key sites. “It is a possibility that we cannot ignore, that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack,” May said in a live address late last night after she chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency response Cobra committee.

She said: “The change in the threat level means that there will be additional resources and support made available to the police as they work to keep us all safe”.

Meanwhile, three more men were arrested in Manchester today in connection with investigations as the government indicated that the Libyan-origin bomber may not have acted alone. The new arrests came as the injured toll doubled from 59 to 119.

“Three men have been arrested after police executed warrants in South Manchester in connection with the ongoing investigation into Monday night’s horrific attack at the Manchester Arena,” a Greater Manchester Police statement said.

A 23-year-old man arrested yesterday in the wake of the attack on Monday night, carried out by a bomber identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, has been confirmed as his brother Ismail Abedi. With the new arrests, the total number of persons in custody rose to four.

UK home secretary Amber Rudd said that Abedi was known to security services “up to a point” and it is believed intelligence agencies had dug into his connections with Al-Qaida and Islamic State (IS) in his parents’ homeland of Libya.

According to Rudd, up to 3,800 troops will be deployed on the streets around Britain as part of Operation Temperer after British Prime Minister Theresa May ordered to raise the country’s terror threat level to “critical”.

Meanwhile, eight of the 22 victims of the attack are known to be eight-year-old Saffie Roussos, Lisa Lees, 50- year-old Jane Tweddle-Taylor, 29-year-old Martyn Hett, 15- year-old Olivia Campbell, 32-year-old Kelly Brewster, 28- year-old John Atkinson, and 18-year-old Georgina Callander.

Two Polish parents were also killed while collecting their daughters from the venue, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said. — PTI

US leaks irritating, says home secy rudd 

• UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd slammed US leaks on the investigation into the deadly Manchester terror attack as “irritating” and said she had made it clear to Washington that it “should not happen again”
• A string of details about Monday’s attack at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena have emerged from US law enforcement sources before being released by British police or officials
• Asked if the leaks from US officials had compromised the ongoing investigation, Rudd said she “wouldn’t go that far.” But, she added, “I can say that they are perfectly clear about the situation and that it shouldn’t happen again”