The Islamic State terror group yesterday claimed responsibility for the suicide bomb attack at an Arianna Grande musical concert in Manchester, United Kingdom which claimed about 22 lives and injured 59 others.
According to Reuters, the Islamist terror group, which has in recent times been forced from its occupied territories in Syria and Iraq, had claimed the attack was in revenge against “Crusaders”.
But this claim is being disputed by Western experts, who noted that the group had offered two contradictory accounts of the attack, which also did not tally with the British police version.
The US director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, said the US has not confirmed the claims by IS, adding: “They claim responsibility for every attack. We have not verified yet the connection.”
However, the Manchester police said it had arrested a 23-year-old man in South Manchester in connection with the attack, which fell less than three weeks before the national election.
Besides the arrest of the yet-to-be-identified 23-year-old man, the British police also raided a property in the Fallowfield district of the city, where they were said to have carried out a controlled explosion, in search for accomplices.
Also, witnesses in the Whalley Range district said armed policemen had surrounded a newly-built block of flats along a usually serene tree-lined street.
The attacker, who was later identified as Salman Abedi was believed to have blown himself up. He was born in Manchester though with Libyan roots, the BBC said.
Greater Manchester Police said its priority was to establish whether Abedi had worked alone or not.
In the aftermath of the attack, rated as the deadliest in the UK since the 2005 by four British Muslims who killed 52 in a London subway, both the cities of Manchester and London have been on high alert as more policemen were drafted into the streets.
The attack occurred on Monday by 10.30p.m. local time at a concert venue in the northern English city just as thousands of fans were filing out of venue’s four exits.
Witnesses reported hearing a “huge bomb-like bang” in the arena and described being knocked from their feet by an explosion. According to the accounts, dozens of injured, and possibly dead, people, including children, were littered on the floor.
Other accounts described the scene of panic that ensued as the revellers stampeded towards the exits.
By 1.10 a.m local time yesterday morning, 19 people have been confirmed dead and over 50 others injured. But the casualty figures have since risen to 23 dead.
In her initial reaction after the attack, Prime Minister May said her thoughts were with the victims and families of those affected in “what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack.”
Greater Manchester Police Chief, Constable Ian Hopkins, corroborated May’s statement that the police “are currently treating this as a terrorist incident until we have further information,” adding: “This is clearly a very concerning time for everyone. I want to thank people for their support and ask them to remain vigilant.”
So far, not many in the fatality list have been identified. But among the few that have been identified was an eight-year-old girl, who is the youngest known victim.
Her mother and sister were among 59 people injured in the attack. In all nearly half of those reported dead were children. The names of the three victims released are: Saffie Rose Roussos, eight, Georgina Callander and John Atkinson, 28.
The AP said the attack sparked a night-long search for loved-ones — parents for the children they had accompanied or had been waiting to pick up, and friends for each other after groups were scattered by the blast. Political parties in the UK have meanwhile suspended their campaigns for the general election following the attack, while the US pop star, Ariana Grande, whose concert was attacked, tweeted she was “broken”.
