Comment: See also:

• Political Timing of Manchester Terror Attack is Suspicious by Joe Quinn
• Suicide bomber behind Manchester Arena attack that killed 22 people

Updates: The bomb killed 22 people (including an 8-year-old girl) and injured over 50 others. In the immediate aftermath PM May suspended her election campaigning to chair an emergency Cobra committee meeting. World leaders are sending in their condolences. Putin reiterated that Russia is read to enhance cooperation with the UK in fighting terrorism, saying: "We resolutely condemn this cynical, inhumane crime. We expect that the masterminds who were behind it will not escape justice."

Manchester University scholar Dr. Hamed El-Said, terrorism expert, says this attack was carefully orchestrated:

"They knew exactly what they were doing. This didn't really happen overnight. They've been preparing for this for a while; this is a very large attack. It wouldn't have happened overnight," El-Said said. "There was definitely some planning because the scale of the attack was much larger than to be done spontaneously," he added.

The counter terrorism expert also warned that the attack might mark a move away from gun and knife attacks, such as the lone wolf attack in Westminster in March and those seen in Europe recently. "You have also to understand that this is different to the attacks that have recently been experienced in London, France, and Belgium, where individuals are carrying weapons and going into certain places and attacking and fighting until the end.

"We haven't really seen such a scale in the West in terms of suicide for a while now. I think that is one of the reasons, obviously, because they are always looking for soft targets. It was a very soft target last night, people having a nice time in the largest indoor arena in Manchester," he said.

El-Said pointed out that the attackers "chose their timing very carefully" to coincide with "when people are leaving, going to meet their parents, to pick them up and their parents were coming in. It was a perfect timing for the terrorists."

RT has a timeline of the attack with videos here. RT interviews a witness below:


The suicide bomber has been named as 22-year-old Salman Abedi, but he hasn't been "formally identified" yet, according to Chief Constable Ian Hopkins. US media organizations ignored British police's request to keep silent on Abedi's name for the time being. Abedi was born in Manchester in 1994 to Libyan parents who reportedly fled Gaddafi. Abedi took a train from London to Manchester before the attack.

A 23-year-old man was also arrested today in connection with the attack, and poice have exercised two warrants (in Whalley Range and Fallowfield). Another man was arrested in the Arndale Centre, but isn't believed to be connected to the attack.

The Americans are working "very closely" with the Brits to investigate the attack. US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats stated the following:

"ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack in Manchester, although they claim responsibility for virtually every attack," he said in a statement. "We have not verified yet the connection. We spent a significant amount of time discussing threats to our respective homelands. It's a tragic situation that we see all too much of in countries around the world, particularly our allies. Once again, it reminds us that this threat is real, it is not going away and needs significant attention to do everything we can to protect our people from these kinds of attacks," he said.

ISIS did claim responsibility, but didn't give any details, so Coats's skepticism is justified at this point.

Some concert-goers are now complaining that security at the event was lax, which seems like a recurring complaint regarding this particular venue.

Predictably, anti-Muslim comments have been pouring in online, along with those coming to British Muslims' defense. President Trump's comment was perhaps the most memorable, and apropos. He simply called ISIS "losers":


Ariana Grande is understandably shaken. She tweeted: "broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words." And as if to confirm the stereotype of idiotic mainstream journalists, CBS contributor David Leavitt made a total fool of himself by mocking the victims and the attack on Twitter. Bad form, Leavitt.

Update: Paul Joseph Watson has a video with eyewitness testimony suggesting that the bomber may not have been acting alone. One concert-goer saw a woman who appeared not to speak English fidgeting, looking anxious, and repeatedly smirking/looking in the direction from where the blast would eventually come.


Update (May 24): Numerous media outlets are reporting Abedi had made numerous trips to Libya and is suspected of having been trained in Syria. See:

• Manchester attacker linked to Libyan terrorists harbored by UK govt for decades
• Manchester attack: Blowback for UK's support of terrorism in Libya, Syria and beyond

The French Interior Minister even says he had "proven" links with ISIS, and was known to both French and British security services. Abedi was allegedly associated with Manchester ISIS recruiter Raphael Hostey, killed in Syria in 2016. A school friend of Abedia says he returned to Manchester from Libya just last week, after spending three weeks there.

Human rights campaigner and Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti appeared on BBC to call for calm and unity, and not "conspiracy theories".

"So if anyone is feeling panicked about the timing of this I would just urge them to be calm and united. I have colleagues who are great civil libertarians and human rights folk and privy councillors and I think it is possible to take this forward in a bipartisan way."

Her comments came after a Labour Party activist referred to the terrorist attack as "wonderful timing for [Prime Minister] Theresa May."

"What has happened in Manchester is awful and my thoughts are with the families. However I can't help thinking this is wonderful timing for Theresa May," the vice-chairman of Stroud's Constituency Labour Party, Debbie Hicks, wrote on Facebook.

"It is well known that politicians use events as part of their campaigns or messages."

Hicks later apologized for the crass comment but was suspended following the incident.

She wasn't the only one to speculate about the timing.

"Abhorrent what has happened in Manchester and it is revolting that Theresa May supporters are using this to attack Corbyn," tweeted a man named Sean McColgan.

"I can't help think events in Manchester will benefit May and the cranks who will vote for her, sadly," fellow user Sean Turner echoed.

Indeed. And as for the conspiracy theories, they really are pesky, aren't they? Can't have anyone pointing out the decades of collusion between the UK and the very Muslim terrorists the public is so terrified of.

Footage has emerged of the raid on Abedi's home, shared with his older brother (the rest of his family haven't moved back to Libya).


Home Secretary Amber Rudd slammed US authorities for leaking confidential details about the attack, such as Abedi's name, the initial death tolls, and the identification of the explosion as a suicide bomb.

Three more men have been arrested in connection with the attack, bringing the total to four (footage and photos of the various raids here). UK authorities say he may not have been working alone.

And now for the predictable UK leadership response: May warned that another attack is "expected imminently", ergo: a thousand troops are being sent to various high-profile locations, including Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, and Parliament. Called "Operation Temperer", it plans on deploying thousands of troops (up to 5,100 under police command). But the military itself was reportedly hesitant about the whole thing, back when the measures were drawn up in 2015 after the Paris attacks, citing concerns about lack of personnel, morale, and difficulties knowing when to withdraw.

Update: Abedi's father told AP that his son had recently visited Libya, but that he believes his son is innocent, and his family didn't believe in killing. However, soon after this, former Libyan security official Abdel-Basit Haroun told AP that the father, Ramadan Abedi, was actually a well-known member of the anti-Gaddafi terrorist group LIFG during the 90s (his nom de guerre was apparently Abu Ismail). Soon after this story, both Ramadan and Salman's younger brother Hashem were arrested in Tripoli. Libyan officials said the brother knew about Salman's plans:

Hashem Abedi, an engineering student in Manchester University, "was aware of all the details" of his brother's plans to attack the arena, Libyan counter terrorism police (RADA) said in a statement. Hashem Abedi was arrested in Tripoli on Tuesday on suspicion of links to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

In its statement, RADA said the 20-year-old admitted that his brother had links with IS and confessed that he himself was in Britain during the planning and preparation of the attack. RADA say Hashem left Britain on April 16 but was constantly in contact with his brother Salman Abedi prior to the terrorist attack.

Back in the UK, police made their 7th arrest in connection with the attack (6 men, 1 woman). One suspect was tackled to the ground by police with a "suspicious object", prompting a bomb squad to cordon off the area. Police are being tight-lipped regarding details. Interestingly, despite initial "lone wolf" statements, the police have advanced from considering the possibility of accomplices to more definite statements: "I think it's very clear that this is a network that we are investigating," said police chief Ian Hopkins. Usually the narrative shifts in the other direction.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the leaks are still coming. UK police have accused the U.S. media of releasing even more information without their approval, this time photographs from the scene of the explosion showing what could be fragments of Abedi's suicide bomb. The photos show shrapnel and what could be Abedi's backpack, detonator, and power source.

A former unnamed British intelligence chief told Newsweek that US sources were unreliable with sensitive information, claiming they "just blabbermouth it and it's really, really unhelpful."

Update (May 25): One of Abedi's relatives had apparently warned British authorities (specifically, MI5) about Salman, saying he was dangerous and thought suicide bombings were "OK". Five years ago, his friends even called Britain's anti-terrorist hotline about their concerns. Authorities didn't do anything about it (shades of Tamerlan Tsarnaev). Abedi is said to have called his family in Tripoli 15 minutes before the attack. Contrary to his father's claims from yesterday, friends of the family told the Times that Salman's father had been so worried about Salman's radicalization that he demanded his son move to Libya, and confiscated his passport (he returned the passport after Salman said he wanted to make a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia).

Another family friend said Abedi fought with the Tripoli Brigade in Libya in 2011 as a teenager. His sister says her brother was kind and loving, and speculated on why he may have carried out the attack:

"I think he saw children—Muslim children—dying everywhere, and wanted revenge. He saw the explosives America drops on children in Syria, and he wanted revenge," she said. "Whether he got that is between him and God."

One of Abedi's friends was murdered in Manchester in May 2016 in what police think was a gang-related killing. However, the same family friend says Abedi say it as a hate crime:

and grew increasingly angry about what he considered ill-treatment of Muslims in Britain. "I remember Salman at his funeral vowing revenge," the Abedi family friend said.

Abedi became increasingly religious, family members said, and interested in extremist groups. A cousin, who declined to be named, said Abedi's parents worried he was headed toward violence.

"We knew he was going to cause trouble," the family friend said. "You could see that something was going to happen, sooner or later."

Manchester police say the 8 arrests they have made are "significant" to the attack, revealing items deemed "very important" to the investigation. The one woman arrested has been released.

UK police and officials are so furious with their U.S. counterparts that they have stopped sharing information about the attack with them.

According to Reuters, the halt in sharing information with the US will remain in place until Britain gets assurances no further leaks will occur. "This is until such time as we have assurances that no further unauthorized disclosures will occur," a source, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said.

Speaking on Thursday, chief constable Ian Hopkins told media: ... "When that trust is breached it undermines these relationships, and undermines our investigations and the confidence of victims, witnesses and their families. This damage is even greater when it involves unauthorised disclosure of potential evidence in the middle of a major counter terrorism investigation."

The most senior US diplomat in Britain has also condemned the media leaks and called for the US government to take action to identify those responsible. "These leaks were reprehensible, deeply distressing. We unequivocally condemn them," Lewis Lukens, US charge d'affaires in London and acting ambassador to Britain, told the BBC. "The United States government is launching an investigation into these leaks and will take appropriate action once we identify the source of the leaks," he said. "We are determined to identify these leaks and to stop them."
...
Hours before the latest leaks were published in the New York Times, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said she had "been very clear with our friends that should not happen again," after the first set of leaks to the US press, which included details about the death toll and the bomber's name, which the police had not been planning to release at that stage.

A government source told the BBC the leaks were "on another level" and had caused "disbelief and astonishment" within the government.

The UK's National Police Chiefs' Council slammed the "unauthorised disclosure" and said it was a breach of trust that undermines a "major counter-terrorism investigation."

Trump agrees:

President Donald Trump condemned the US intelligence agencies leaking information about the Manchester terrorist attack to the media and vowed to prosecute the culprits.

"The alleged leaks coming out of government agencies are deeply troubling," Trump said in a statement, released by the White House on Thursday.

"I am asking the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to launch a complete review of this matter, and if appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

"There is no relationship we cherish more than the Special Relationship" between the US and the UK, he added.

Update (May 26): Friends and acquaintances apparently warned British authorities about Abedi 5 times in 5 years. While police are looking into his possible network, they say it's possible he made the bomb himself, according to source for Reuters. Police found a "huge load of unused chemicals" at Abedi's Manchester address, according to NBC.

According to Libyan security official, Abedi called his mother hours before the attack to say farewell and to ask for forgiveness. His younger brother allegedly told Libyan authorities that his brother acted alone and built the bomb himself.

British police have made their 10th arrest in connection with the attack (in addition to the one woman arrested, one man has been released, leaving eight in custody. Top counterterrorism officer Mark Rowley says "a large part" of the network has been arrested.

After receiving assurances from U.S. officials, intelligence sharing between the U.S. and UK has resumed.

Manchester's police chief says the city has seen a surge in hate crimes since the attack, with reported incidents doubling the average number.

Comment: More on France's burkini ban:

• Burkini ban: Calling oppression by its true ugly name
• France's absurd, misogynist burkini ban is an Islamophobic assault on feminist values

Comment: See also: Afghanistan: Worst place for children to be born and raised