Britain on alert for second attack as Manchester suicide bomber named

British authorities have warned a new terror attack may be “imminent”, after identifying the suspected suicide bomber who killed 22 people, including children, in an attack on a crowded pop concert in Manchester.

Key points:

• Authorities are investigating whether Salman Abedi acted alone or had help
• British PM says attack displayed “appalling sickening cowardice”
• Troops to be deployed to streets amid fears of another attack

The man suspected of carrying out Britain’s deadliest bombing in nearly 12 years was named as Salman Abedi, aged 22, a student at the University of Salford, near Manchester city centre.

This morning British Prime Minister Theresa May said there was a possibility Abedi was part of a wider network and said the country’s terror alert level was being upgraded to “critical”.

She said soldiers would be put on the streets of British cities to help police standing guard over possible targets.

She said the soldiers would be under the command of police.

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

Abedi is believed to have travelled by train from London to Manchester before the attack, they said.

“Our priority, along with the police counterterrorism network and our security partners, is to continue to establish whether he was acting alone or working as part of a wider network,” Manchester Police chief constable Ian Hopkins said.

Earlier, police arrested a 23-year-old man and carried out raids throughout Greater Manchester including one at a Manchester address which was reportedly Abedi’s home.

Did anyone help Abedi?

Authorities can’t ignore the possibility the Manchester bomber was part of a wider cell in Britain, writes James Glenday.

Police sealed off an entrance to dozens of terraced houses in the suburb of Fallowfield, about five kilometres south of the city centre, and carried out a controlled explosion to break down the door.

The attacker set off his improvised bomb about 10:30pm on Monday (local time) as crowds streamed out of the Manchester Arena after a pop concert by Ariana Grande, a US singer especially popular with teenage girls.

Abedi was killed in the bombing.

“All acts of terrorism are cowardly,” Ms May said outside her Downing Street office after a meeting with security and intelligence chiefs.

Source: Manchester attack: Police name suspected suicide bomber as Salman Abedi; alert level raised; troops on the streets – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)