Manchester attacker identified as Salman Abedi, of Libyan descent
:: Investigators hunted on Tuesday for possible accomplices of the suicide bomber who attacked an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, killing 22 people and injuring dozens more.
The police have named the suicide bomber as 22-year-old Salman Abedi of Libyan origins.
Born in Manchester in 1994, Abedi was the second youngest of four children and his parents were Libyan refugees who came to the UK to escape the Gaddafi regime, British media reported. Abedi had two brothers and a sister, who is now 18-years-old.
Unconfirmed reports in Manchester said that the whole family apart from the two elder sons recently returned to Libya.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the Monday night carnage, but a top American intelligence official said the claim could not be verified.
Meanwhile British police raided two sites in the northern English city, setting off a controlled explosion in one, and arrested a 23-year-old man in a third location there.
British Prime Minister Theresa May and police said Abedi died in the attack on Manchester Arena – something that went unmentioned in the ISIS claim, which also had discrepancies with the events described by British officials.
British election rolls listed Abedi as living at a modest red brick semi-detached house in a mixed suburb of Manchester where police performed a controlled explosion Tuesday afternoon.
Neighbor Natalie Daley said she was frightened by a loud bang, then police yelling “get in your houses – get away from the windows!”
“When it’s like two seconds from your house, when you walk past it every day, you do live in fear,” Daley said.
Manchester, 160 miles northwest of London, is one of Britain’s largest cities and Manchester Arena is one of the world’s largest indoor concert venues.
The attack was the deadliest in Britain since four suicide bombers killed 52 London commuters on subway trains and a bus in July 2005. Campaigning for Britain’s June 8 national election was suspended.
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