Ahmet Gürhan Kartal
24 May 2017•Update: 25 May 2017
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
Anti-terror teams arrested a male late Wednesday in Nuneaton in connection with a suicide bombing that killed 22 victims in the Manchester terror attack, according to authorities.
The number of arrests in the case now stands at seven and came following the arrest of a woman in an armed raid late Wednesday on a block of apartments. That followed an earlier arrest of a male in Wigan.
British-born Salman Abedi, 22, who has Libyan heritage, remains the main suspect in the suicide attack that targeted a foyer area of the Manchester Arena as concertgoers left a performance by American pop singer Ariana Grande.
A 23-year-old male was arrested in Manchester hours after the attack and three others were taken into custody in the city Wednesday.
A fifth male arrested in Wigan was carrying a suspected package that is now under assessment, the Greater Manchester police said.
Police raided at least three addresses linked to Abedi and carried out a controlled explosion at one location Tuesday.
Abedi was probably not acting alone and had been known to authorities “up to a point”, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Wednesday.
Counter-terrorism police in Libya also arrested Salman Abedi's brother, Hashim Abedi, on Tuesday, Libyan forces said in a statement on Facebook.
The brother confessed he had been in Britain for some time and that he knew every detail of the attack, according to the statement.
Media reports also claim the brother’s father was also arrested in Libya.
The investigation into the deadly bombing continues to center around a network of terrorists, Chief Constable Ian Hopkins from Manchester Police force confirmed.
A SkyNews exclusive report said its outlet linked Abedi to a Manchester terror cell of young men. The report suggested Abedi was radicalized and forged close relations with Daesh members.
The national terror threat was raised Tuesday to ‘critical’ from ‘severe’ after an evaluation by terrorism specialists. The new level means a terror attack is imminent.
Because of the new threat level, approximately 1,000 military personnel were deployed Wednesday to provide security at key sites including the Buckingham Palace and the parliament in London.
More soldiers could be deployed to major cities and at events such as the FA Cup Final match next week to be played between Arsenal and Chelsea in London.
Meanwhile, the New York Times published photographs of components of the bomb used in the Manchester arena attack and claimed it was a powerful and sophisticated device.
The latest revelations came a few hours after Rudd expressed irritation with the U.S. for sharing details of the identity of the main suspect.
And the announcement of the main suspect’s identity was made by American news outlets despite an appeal by British authorities for news agencies not to disclose his identity. A few hours later, U.K. officials were forced to confirm Abedi was the suspect.
