Greater Manchester Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said three more people had been arrested and a house raided after a controlled explosion.
"It's very clear that this is a network that we are investigating," he said.
As police try to piece together the movements of bomber Salman Abedi, they are hunting for accomplices, including a possible bomb maker.
"The concern is that there may be others out there who helped him to make the bomb," an intelligence source told the Reuters news agency.
"Making a bomb of this sort requires a certain level of expertise and competence,"
Police have now identified all 22 victims of the attack at the Manchester Arena on Monday night, which came at the end of an Ariana Grande concert.
The victims include an eight-year-old girl and an off-duty police officer.
Prime Minister Theresa May has raised the terror level to "critical" - the highest possible - in response to the attack, and announced the deployment of soldiers in the street.
France's interior minister has said both British and French intelligence services had information that the university dropout had also travelled to Syria and had "proven" links with Islamic State.
A "critical" terror level means an attack may be imminent.
In response, the military will be providing armed troops for "key locations" as part of efforts to support the police in their security operations.
Soldiers are replacing armed police at sites including Buckingham Palace, Downing Street and the Palace of Westminster as part of Operation Temperer.
When she announced the raising of the threat level on Tuesday, Mrs May said a "wider group of individuals" could have been involved - including a bomb maker who provided Abedi with his device.
No comments:
Post a Comment