Two more men were arrested in Manchester this morning after police carried out raids in the city – bringing the total number in custody to eight.
One man was detained when officers searched a property in Withington, south Manchester.
The second man was arrested in another part of the city – just days after Salman Abedi, 22, detonated an improvised explosive device at Manchester Arena.
Police also carried out an armed raid on a block of flats in Blackley, in the north of the city, and a woman was held but later released without charge.
Islamic State, now being driven from territories in Syria and Iraq by Western-backed armed forces, claimed responsibility for the attack on Monday night.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: ‘This morning we have been carrying out searches at an address in the Withington area and a man has been arrested.
These searches are connected to Monday’s attack on the Manchester Arena, but this is a fast moving investigation and we are keeping an open mind at this stage.
‘Another man has also been arrested in the Manchester area this morning in connection with the investigation, bringing the total number of men in custody to eight.
‘A woman who was arrested in Blackley on Wednesday evening has since been released without charge.’
Among those arrested in the city yesterday were an uncle of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, while the killer’s mother is also reported to be in police custody.
Officers fear that a bombmaker could still be at large after a search of a flat used by Abedi in the city centre yielded no traces of explosives used in the attack.
Abedi’s brother, Ismail, was the first person to be arrested in connection with the atrocity on Tuesday. He is still being questioned by detectives.
Armed police and troops carried out raids in Manchester, Wigan and Nuneaton in Warwickshire yesterday, while authorities in Libya arrested Abedi’s father and younger brother.
Officers found explosives which could be used for imminent attacks, but The Independent reports that more explosives could still be unaccounted for by police.
Chief constable Ian Hopkins said it is ‘very clear’ that police are investigating ‘a network’ linked to the bomber.
Early today a controlled explosion was carried out during a raid in Manchester’s Moss Side district.
Source: Two more arrests connected to Manchester suicide bombing | Daily Mail Online
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