Manchester bomber was 鈥榣ikely鈥� acting with others: minister

British Interior minister Amber Rudd. (AFP)

LONDON: The attack on a Manchester pop concert that killed 22 people was 鈥渓ikely鈥� the work of more than one person, British interior minister Amber Rudd said Wednesday.
鈥淚t was a devastating occasion, it was more sophisticated than some of the attacks we鈥檝e seen before, and it seems likely 鈥� possible 鈥� that he wasn鈥檛 doing this on his own,鈥� she told BBC radio.
Rudd confirmed that bomber Salman Abedi, a British man of Libyan heritage who died in the explosion on Monday night, had been on the radar of the security services.
鈥淲e do know that he was known up to a point to the intelligence services,鈥� she told Sky News.
Clarifying this on the BBC she said: 鈥淭he security services will know a lot of people. It doesn鈥檛 mean that they鈥檙e expected to arrest everybody they know.
鈥淏ut it is somebody that they had known.鈥�
She said she had 鈥渃omplete confidence鈥� in the security services.
The minister said she was 鈥渘ot surprised at all鈥� that the attack had been claimed by the Daesh group, but said there was no information yet to confirm the extremist organization鈥檚 active direction.
Britain鈥檚 national terror threat level was raised late Tuesday to 鈥渃ritical,鈥� meaning another attack may be imminent, following the attack on the concert of US singer Ariana Grande.
London police said Wednesday they would be calling in the army to help guard key landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and foreign embassies.