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Perpetrator in Manchester Attack is Identified

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated May 24, 2017

The perpetrator behind the horrific attack at the Manchester Arena that killed 22 and injured nearly 60 others has been identified.

Police believe the suicide bomber who detonated his explosive device at the Manchester Arena during an Ariana Grande concert is 22-year-old Salman Abedi. Abedi was a British man of Libyan descent.

ChristianHeadlines.com reported yesterday that the Islamic State terrorist group took responsibility for the attack. According to MSN.com, Abedi had ties to al Qaeda, but may have been linked to the Islamic State as well.

Abedi had reportedly received terrorist training abroad and, according to a U.S. intelligence official, officials are investigating whether he had ties to other terrorist groups besides al Qaeda.

Abedi was known as a possible threat and his own family had reported him to British authorities in the past.

Intelligence officials say that it was likely Abedi was not acting alone in the Manchester attack. A U.S. official noted that the bomb Abedi detonated was “big and sophisticated….it's almost impossible to see he didn't have help."

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has raised the terrorist threat level in the country to critical in the wake of the Manchester bombing, and UK officials are on high alert in order to avoid a potential follow-up attack.

Only three of the victims of the attack have been identified thus far, one of whom is Saffie Rose Roussos, who was only eight years old.

 

Photo: Crowds of people wait outside after police avacuated the Arndale Centre on May 23, 2017 in Manchester, England. An explosion occurred at Manchester Arena as concert goers were leaving the venue after Ariana Grande had performed. Greater Manchester Police are treating the explosion as a terrorist attack and have confirmed 22 fatalities and 59 injured.

Photo courtesy: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Publication date: May 24, 2017