Three men arrested following Manchester Arena Ariana Grande suicide attack

Three men have been arrested in Manchester following the Ariana Grande concert suicide attack as more details surface about the identity of the man police say orchestrated the attack.

In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said: “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.”

It follows the arrest of a 23-year-old man arrested in connection to the attack which killed 22 and injured at least 119.

Police raided the home of the named bomber Salman Abedi in South Manchester yesterday.
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The suicide bomber who killed 22 including children likely did not act alone, Britain's interior minister said on Wednesday.

The official threat level was raised late on Tuesday to its highest level, "critical", meaning an attack is expected imminently.

Police have named British-born Abedi, 22, as the perpetrator of the bombing at the Manchester Arena, which was attended by thousands of children and teenagers.

"It seems likely, possible, that he wasn't doing this on his own," interior minister Amber Rudd told BBC radio.

Rudd also said Abedi had been known to security services before the bombing.

She said up to 3,800 soldiers would be deployed on Britain's streets, freeing up police officers to carry out patrols and investigatory work.

The identities of the victims were becoming known little by little. They included an eight-year-old girl, two teenage girls and a 28-year-old man. A Polish couple who had come to collect their daughters after the concert also died, Poland's foreign minister said. The daughters were safe.

"There is damage to major organs, major injuries in terms of limbs and some of these individuals are going to need very long term care and support. These are highly traumatic injuries,” health authorities said of the injured.

The Manchester attack was the deadliest in Britain since July 2005, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people in coordinated attacks on London's transport network.

US security sources, citing British intelligence officials, said Abedi was born in Manchester in 1994 to parents of Libyan origin.

Rudd told the BBC she believed Abedi had recently returned from Libya, and French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said British investigators had told French authorities Abedi had probably traveled to Syria as well.