Police officers stand on duty on Dorset Avenue in Moss Side following a raid on a residential property as investigations continue into the terror attack at the Manchester Arena. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
Police officers stand on duty on Dorset Avenue in Moss Side following a raid on a residential property as investigations continue into the terror attack at the Manchester Arena. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images
The Guardian’s North of England editor, Helen Pidd, reports that cousins of the Manchester bomber are among those who have been arrested.
The Guardian understands that three of the 10 people arrested so far are brothers. The three brothers are said to be cousins of the bomber, Salman Abedi.
Two of the brothers, Abderahman Forjani and Abdallah Forjani, run the Fade Away barbers in Moss Side that was raided on Friday morning.
The police officer pictured blowing a kiss to a woman offering free hugs in the wake of the Manchester terror attack has thanked the public for their support, PA reports.
An armed police officer who was photographed blowing a kiss to women offering free hugs while he was on patrol in the wake of the Manchester bombing has thanked the public for their show of appreciation.
Pc Nick Downing was on duty in the city’s Albert Square when the heart-warming moment was captured in an image which has now been shared on social media.
The Durham Police officer, who was sent to Manchester on Wednesday, said: “Throughout the day the people and businesses of Manchester were extremely supportive - I can’t recall in the past 14 years such an outpouring of appreciation by the public.
“I shook so many hands and was photographed more than on my own wedding day - the Manchester public were amazing.
“I left Manchester that evening, a couple of hours after the vigil at Albert Square had finished, and made my way back to County Durham arriving home at around midnight.
“It was a long but rewarding shift.
“I am proud to have been able to support the people of Manchester, but I know if I hadn’t taken that call there are many other officers who would have done just the same.
“I would like to say that although I played a small part, there are many other officers who worked longer hours, in more challenging situations, all of whom have my utmost respect.”
The black and white photo was taken by Natalie Thornley.
Britain’s top counter-terrorism officer has said that a “large part of the network” alleged to have helped carry out the Manchester bombing have been arrested.
Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said expects charges to be brought against members of the network alleged to have helped the Manchester bomber.
Rowley gave an update of the progress of the investigation saying : “There will be trials”.
But he added that there may be more individuals involved who are still at large.
Rowley said police have reviewed security at more than 1,300 events across the country and urged the public to “go out as you planned and enjoy yourselves”.
An American general appointed by Barack Obama to head up a global military coalition against Islamic State has said he would have been “embarrassed and furious” over the leak of intelligence from the United States about the Manchester suicide bomb to the US media if he was still running anti-ISIS operations, writes Henry McDonald.
GenJohn Allen was Obama’s Presidential Envoy in 2014 sent to counter the initial rise of Isis. The retired US Marine general who also headed up operations in Iraq’s Al Anbar province against al-Qaida said the leaks to the New York Times undermined confidence between the US and the UK in terms of intelligence sharing.
Speaking to the Guardian at the Globsec 2017 international conference on terrorism and security in Bratislava today, Allen said:
I have absolute sympathy for the British point of view on this. I don’t know the specifics but I think all of us who have such affection for our friends in the UK felt immediate embarrassment over this issue.
President Trump also immediately promised that he would run a very aggressive investigation to find out...If I was still in my position fighting ISIS I would be embarrassed and furious, and seek every possible to find how that leaked occurred.
Because we have a friend, one of our closest friends on the planet, that has given us sensitive information that has now been leaked. For a whole variety of reasons it has made it more difficult for British security and law enforcement officials. So we have to be seen to be trustworthy as well. We have to demonstrate that we can be trusted to protect sensitive information that the British give us.
Allen also issued a warning about further attacks in Europe including the UK by Isis inspired militants as pressure increased on the terror group on the ground in Iraq and Syria.
As the caliphate comes under pressure, as the IS caliphate shrinks on the ground, those who have been radicalised by them will say to themselves, ‘how can I relieve the pressure on them?’ So I do think as pressure increases and the violent shrinkage of the Caliphate’s surface area goes on then I think we should anticipate more attacks like Manchester. Whether it happens or not I don’t know but we should anticipate that possibility.
The general, who is now co-director of the Centre for 21st Century Security and Intelligence, said UK security officials and police should examine if Isis has been using encrypted apps technology to contact young militant recruits like the Manchester suicide bomber and others willing to follow him.
Manchester Victoria station, which links directly to the Manchester arena where the attack happened on Monday, is still part of an ongoing police investigation and has issued a statement saying there is currently no re-opening date. Here is the statement from the station:
Due to the nature of the attack, the station has suffered structural damage that still needs to be properly assessed and repaired. Until this work is completed, the station will remain closed.
Northern is currently unable to accurately estimate when the station will re-open. As a result man of the services that would normally run into Manchester Victoria are unable to do so. This means there is significant disruption in Manchester and the surrounding areas.
Please check nationalrail.co.uk or northernrailway.co.uk before travelling.
We will do everything we can to keep our customers up to date with more information as we know more.
The two leaders will talk about the threat posed by the terror group ISIS and how they can be fought abroad in Iraq and Syria and across the western world.
Trump and May were pictured talking together in the gardens of a cliff-top hotel overlooking the Mediterranean in Taormina, Sicily, a day after Trump criticised Nato allies for spending too little on defence.
The special relationship has been strained in recent days, with May making an unusually direct criticism of US intelligence leaks concerning the Manchester terrorist attack .
Syria, North Korea and the global economy are also on the agenda to be discussed at the meeting of world leaders.
Greater Manchester police have said a man was briefly detained in Stretford as part of the ongoing investigation into the Manchester arena attack has been released without charged.
In a statement GMP said:
As part of the ongoing investigation into the Manchester arena attack, police today detained a 28-year-old man in Stretford under terrorism offences. He has been released with no further action.
Nine people injured in the attacks have left hospital in last 24 hours. The number of those still being treated in hospital is 66, including 23 in critical care, according to the BBC citing the NHS. On Thursday 75 people were still being treated.
NHS says apart from the 22 people killed in the Manchester terror attack, 66 of the 116 injured are still in hospital, 23 in critical care.
A 22-year-old man remains in custody after counter-terrorism officers swooped on an address in Nuneaton thought to be connected to the Manchester attack.
The man was arrested at a property in Earls Road in the Warwickshire town of Nuneaton.
The property, home to a Libyan-born man who fled the Gaddafi regime, is still being searched following an arrest in a nearby street on Wednesday night.
Witnesses said officers with tasers and guns arrested a man near flats in Meadow Street at 8.30pm on Wednesday, before putting plastic bags on his hands and feet and taking him away in a car.
An eight-strong police specialist search team, equipped with a ladder, and other officers were then seen entering a semi-detached home on Thursday morning. Two marked police vans were parked in the street and there was continued activity at the house throughout the day.
Neighbours said Naser Elshetwi, a father of five, lived at the address. They said earlier this year he had spoken of how he had been shot in Libya in a violent kidnap attempt. It is understood his son is Mumen Elshetwi, a student at King Edward VI college.
The Coventry Telegraph reported earlier this week that the attacker, Salman Abedi, was seen in Nuneaton just weeks before concert attack.
Elijah Nyamhdzadza, 40, told the paper that he bumped in to Abedi while looking for his dog in February and recognised the man behind the Manchester attack after seeing coverage in the papers.
He said: “I’d know those evil eyes anywhere. He made my blood run cold.”
Recalling the moment he came face-to-face with Abedi he added: “I’d lost my dog in the park near my home and was asking people if they’d seen him. here were these three guys by the basketball court. I started talking to them and got chatting together. One of the guys started a conversation about religion, and the differences in our religions. They started to tell me about Islam, and we were sharing for about 40 minutes.”
He added: “When I saw him today I said ‘this is the man I saw!’. It looks exactly the same as him. I am 100% sure it was Abedi,” he said.
Libyan-born Naser Elshetwi came to the UK two decades ago, and was later granted British citizenship under then home secretary David Blunkett. He has five children aged between seven and 21.
Witness Susan Wild said armed officers, with their faces covered, were seen outside the property at about 9.10pm on Wednesday.
“I was just putting my rubbish out and they swarmed the area,” the 40-year-old said. “They were shouting ‘armed police’ and there was about 12 of them. The police have been there all night and they’ve taken plastic boxes in there. I would say the family have lived there at least 11 years, which is as long as I have lived here.”
Police enter an address in Nuneaton after a man was arrested in connection with the Manchester Arena bombing. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA
Younger brother Hashim Ramadan Abu Qassem al-Abedi - detained in Libya in the aftermath of the bombing – knew of his brother’s movements and about the plot, Ahmed Ben Salem, spokesman for the Special Deterrence Force in Tripoli, told the private broadcaster Libya’s Channel on Thursday night.
The brothers spoke on the phone just minutes before the attack, Ben Salem said but Hashim told his Libyan questioners that he did not know details about where and when the blast would be.
Hashim Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, who has been detained in Tripoli along with their father Ramadan. Photograph: Force for Deterrence in Libya/PA
