The suicide bomber in the Manchester terror attack has been identified and investigations have revealed that his brother knew about the sinister plot which has links to libya. A total of twenty-two people were killed in the attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester Arena. So far seven people have been arrested by the London police and a few more from Libya – among them is the father of the terror suspect.
The terror link from Lybia to Manchester
Sky News reports that police have so far arrested seven persons, including a woman, from various parts of London.
They are believed to be associated in the terror plot and one of them is a brother of the bomber. Greater Manchester Police chief constable Ian Hopkins has remarked that the investigations point to the existence of a terror network.
As to the Libya connection in the Manchester Arena attack, one of those arrested was of a brother of the suspect who was aware of the plan to explode a nail bomb at the end of a pop concert. Their father has also been arrested in Tripoli by the counter-terror police who have confirmed links of the arrested persons to the ISIS. Incidentally, all the brothers are in their 20s.
The family belonged to Libya and had initially migrated to London but in 2011, the parents returned to Libya while the suspect stayed on in London.
London takes preventive measures
In view of revelations about a terror network which is active in London, the UK terror level has been upgraded to critical. This is the highest possible level and it warns that there could be another attack at any time. The attack in the Manchester Arena has shown that such venues are prone to become possible targets and needs protection of a very high order.
Army has been called in to guard important government installations in Britain while soldiers have been put on patrol duties to extend support to the police. In addition, public tours and events in Parliament have been cancelled.
The mission of the ISIS is to create a panic situation among the population, spreading hatred, and right now it seems London might be again in the grip of terror, with the life of its citizen thrown out of gear.
This is a major headache for those who are responsible to ensure security and safety of the common man.
It is certainly necessary to have latest gadgets to detect bombs as well as trained dogs to sniff out explosives. However, more importantly, there is a need to gather information from the ground level and share it with all concerned. In this case, if the links with Libya had been known, the tragic incident might not have happened. The bottom line is, prevention is better than cure.
