SAS storm the Manchester home of terror killer Salman Abedi, 22, who lived with his mum and ‘chanted Islamic prayers in the street’
SUICIDE bomber Salman Abedi was a weirdo fanatic who lived with his mum and “chanted Islamic prayers in the street” before committing the worst UK terror atrocity since 7/7.
Yesterday SAS forces stormed the home of the Brit-born 22-year-old Manchester United fan killed 22 innocent people and maimed 59 more when he detonated a ‘nail bomb’ in the foyer of an Ariana Grande concert.
Among the dead are an eight-year-old girl, two mums who were waiting for their kids at the venue and a teen girl whose mum made an emotional TV appeal after she vanished in the carnage.
The attack prompted Theresa May to raise the terror threat to critical for the first time in ten years – with army troops deployed to British streets and another attack considered “imminent”.
The SAS yesterday stormed his red-brick suburban home in Manchester.
Special Forces troops were brought in to deal with potential booby trap devices or more suicide bombers in the house.
They were backed up by 15 armed counter-terror police as they raided Abedi’s family home where he lived with his mum Samia, 51.
Abedi’s brother Ismail, 23, was arrested outside a phone booth a few miles away in Chorlton.
The Sun can reveal Abedi had secret jihadi training during family trips to Syria and spooks fear he was not acting alone when he carried out the atrocity that ISIS has claimed responsibility for.
Among the university dropout’s victims were eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos, John Atkinson, Kelly Brewster and Georgina Callander, 18, who were all killed after a huge bomb, thought to be packed with nails and bolts, exploded as Ariana Grande’s Manchester concert ended.
Authorities rushed to find answers to the horrific bombing today with their investigation leading them to the suicide bomber’s home in Fallowfield, Manchester – where a controlled explosion was carried out.
Further details emerged about the killer, who was known to MI5, with neighbours speaking of his “strange behaviour” in the weeks leading to the attack.
Those living close to Abedi told he was heard “chanting Islamic prayers loudly in the street” outside his home.
Meanwhile school friends have revealed that Abedi, a former student at the University of Salford, was a keen Manchester United fan who had grown a beard in the past year.
Leon Hall told MailOnline: “I saw him last year and he had a beard thing going on. We didn’t speak but just nodded to each other. I don’t remember seeing him with beard before.
“He had a bit of an attitude problem. I remember that he was a big Man Utd fan.”
The second youngest of four children, his parents were Libyan refugees who arrived in the UK to escape the Gadaffi regime.
They are believed to have emigrated to London before moving to south Manchester before Abedi was born in 1994.
He is thought to have visited the North African country – also a haven for ISIS fighters – regularly in recent years.
Sources said there were fears Abedi may have taken advantage of the conflict to make the simple journey across the Med to Syria without alerting the British authorities.
One revealed: “His potential ties to Syria now very much forms one line of inquiry.”
The cowardly attacker was raised in the Manchester alongside his three brothers and is believed to have caught a £3.80 tram to the arena to carry out the attack.
US security sources, citing British intelligence officials, have also said he is believed to have travelled from London to Manchester by train before the atrocity.
It has been revealed that the sick terrorist started studying business and management at Salford University in 2014, but dropped out and did not finish his degree.
Dr Sam Grogan, the University of Salford’s Pro-Vice Chancellor Student Experience, said: “All at the University of Salford are shocked and saddened by the events of last night. Our thoughts are with all those involved, their families and their friends.
“We have provided, and continue to provide, support to all students and staff who have been affected.”
He also said that in an “unrelated incident” there was an evacuation of three buildings at the university “as a precautionary measure for a short period of time earlier this evening”.
Abedi and his brother reportedly worshipped at Didsbury mosque, south Manchester, where their father was a “well-known figure”.
Mosque trustee Fawaz Haffar said Abedi’s dad used to perform the azan, the call for prayer before 1,000 of the faithful and his brother worked as a volunteer.
When asked whether he had ever seen the terrorist praying at the mosque, he said: “He probably did, I have never seen him, I don’t know him.
“I came earlier to ask any of the employees whether they knew him, people said they don’t know him. There are many mosques, he may be attending another mosque. I honestly do not know.”
Abedi grew up in the Whalley Range area, close to a girl’s high school which hit the headlines in 2015 when “terror twins” Zahra and Salma Halane fled to ISIS-controlled Syria.
Eyewitnesses told how bomb disposal officers were today seen entering the house before a controlled explosion took place, with a 23-year-old man arrested in South Manchester in a separate police swoop.
MI5 spooks and anti-terror cops are now racing against the clock to uncover Abedi’s links to any possible terror cell and discover if he was groomed for the atrocity.
A forensic officer at the killer’s house was pictured with a “Know Your Chemicals” manual in his hand as cops collected evidence.
Officers continued to chase down leads in the investigation as Theresa May raised the terror threat to critical and approved an operation that will see Armed Forces on the streets.
Details of the horrific attack emerge as:
- The Sun has launched appeal ‘Together With Manchester’ and donated £100,000 to get it going
- At least 22 people died and a further 59 were injured
- Many others are reported missing after not returning home
- Investigators are now probing how the attacker slipped through the net
- The Queen praised the people of Manchester for their compassion
- Two months to the day four tourists were slaughtered in Westminster terror attack
- More than 100 people came forward to donate blood
- Terrified family and friends pleaded for information on missing people online
- Theresa May suspended all election campaigning
- US President Trump brands suicide bomber “an evil loser”
- Arndale shopping centre in Manchester evacuated and man arrested over false alarm
- Homeless hailed as heroes after it emerges they rushed to help those fatally injured
Sources said the aim of investigators would be to establish if Abedi himself had built the deadly device – or if a bomb-making mastermind was behind the blast.
A source told The Sun: “Attacks like this are mercifully rare because they require expertise – or a great deal of luck – to pull off.
“In this case the real fear is that Abedi was just the tip of a more sinister network.
“The focus will now be on his friends, family and other ties to see if there was a sprawling terrorist network behind him.”
ISIS fanatics have already boasted of the sickening attack, claiming even more “severe” plots would be unleashed in Britain.
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins confirmed the name of Salman Abedi but refused to comment further.
He said: “We understand that feelings are very raw right now and people are bound to be looking for answers. However, now, more than ever, it is vital that our diverse communities in Greater Manchester stand together and do not tolerate hate.”
Greater Manchester Police also executed a search warrant at a property in Carlton Road in Whalley Range, a mile from the Abedi’s address.
Officers stood guard outside the entrance of the four-storey building while more uniformed police and detectives in suits could be seen entering the property.
Akram Ramadan said the flat below his own, where he lives with his wife and eight-year-old daughter, was the one raided.
The 49-year-old said a newly-wed couple moved into the property around nine months ago.
Mr Ramadan described the man, who he knows only as Ismail, as in his mid-to-late 20s, and a Mancunian of Libyan descent.
Abedi’s attack on the 21,000-strong crowd at Monday night’s Ariana Grande concert killed 22 and left a further 59 injured.
Twelve children under 16 were taken to hospital in a critical condition last night, with many of the dead also feared to be youngsters.
Among the many dead is pop fan Georgina Callander, 18, who has today been described as a girl who “lit up the room”.
She had tragically written to her pop hero yesterday, telling the pop star: “SO EXCITED TO SEE U TOMORROW”.
A close friend told the Evening Standard she died with her mother at her hospital bedside.
Eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos was revealed as the second victim of the blast.
Saffie, of Leyland, Lancs, was killed after becoming separated from her mum and sister during the attack.
Chris Upton, headteacher at Tarleton Community Primary School near Preston, confirmed the tragic news and paid tribute to a “beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word”.
Saffie’s mum and sister are being treated for shrapnel wounds in separate hospitals.
John Atkinson, 26, of Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, has also been named in reports as one of the 22 killed.
One friend posted on the internet: “Truly devastated for them all. What an amazing lovely man he was and blessed to have known him.xxx”
Another wrote: “Rip John Atkinson. Thoughts and prayers to your family. What a mad, sad world”.
Brave Kelly Brewster, 32, of Sheffield, who shielded her niece from the deadly blast was named as the fourth victim.
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE MANCHESTER ARENA ATTACK
Today we launch a Together With Manchester appeal – to raise money for families of the victims of the Arena bomb.
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Witnesses told of seeing shards of metal tearing into concert-goers in the foyer area of the world-famous concert venue – leaving dozens lying in pools of blood.
The horrific blast could he heard echoing through the packed arena as families tried to make their way home as the concert came to an end just after 10.40pm.
Eyewitnesses told how they heard the first blast as Ariana left the stage.
Cherry Dale, 12, and Halle Norris, 10, travelled with dad Andy Andrews, 33, and Halle’s mum Chloe Nayman, 28, from Middlesborough.
Cherry said: “Ariana finished her last song, Dangerous Woman, and said goodbye and thank you. Then there was a massive bang. Ariana Grande was running off the stage.
“That was the first explosion then another went off in a tunnel as people were running out of the arena. People were screaming and hiding under chairs.
“We saw one little boy who was about six get knocked over and people were running over him. The second bomb was close to us.
“It was as we were leaving. Everyone was walking out of the tunnels and it was like the bomb had been thrown in the tunnel where everyone was running.
“Outside, people were running in front of cars crying, they just wanted to be safe.”
'BROKEN' ARIANA CALLS OFF TOUR
Ariana Grande has posted a heartbreaking statement saying she is “broken” following the terror attack.
The 23-year-old pop star, who was confirmed to be safe following the massacre, posted the emotional message on her Twitter account.
She said: “Broken from the bottom of my heart, I am so so sorry. I don’t have words.”
The singer is believed to have called off her world tour, having cancelled her gig in London on Thursday and put her entire European tour on hold, according to .
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola’s wife and two daughters were “caught up in the attack”, according to reports in Spain.
In the aftermath of the explosion youngsters struggled to get home with the city’s kindhearted residents offering places to stay and taxi drivers giving free trips.
Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Police said a 23-year-old man was arrested in nearby Chorlton in connection with the attack this morning.
Witnesses have described the moment armed cops swooped on the man outside a Morrisons supermarket.
PRIME MINISTER HALTS ELECTION CAMPAIGN
THERESA May has condemned the “appalling terrorist attack” at Manchester Arena – as all parties suspended General Election campaigns.
The PM said her thoughts were with the families of victims of last night’s explosion, which left 22 dead.
She has called an emergency Cobra meeting for 9am this morning.
In a brief statement, the Prime Minister said: “We are working to establish the full details of what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack.
“All our thoughts are with the victims and the families of those who have been affected.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he had spoken with Mrs May.
He said: “We have agreed that all national campaigning in the general election will be suspended until further notice.”
He added: “I am horrified by the horrendous events in Manchester last night.
“My thoughts are with families and friends of those who have died and been injured.
“Today the whole country will grieve for the people who have lost their lives.”
The attack was slammed by the Muslim Council of Britain, with the community banding together in support for the victims and their families.
Dozens of bouquets, toys and posters have been laid in Manchester as the city grieves for the victims today, with kind-hearted strangers offering up chocolates and sweets to those injured.
Prime Minister Theresa May slammed the attack as an “absolutely callous” act.
In a defiant speech outside No 10 this morning the Prime Minister said the “cowardice of the attacker was met by the bravery of the emergency services and the people” who stopped to help when a suicide bomber killed fans in a blast after a pop concert.
The PM then made her way to the northern city with Home Secretary Amber Rudd, to meet with police – and to visit some of the victims in hospital as campaigning for June 8’s election was suspended.
Police have upped their presence on the streets of London in response to the attack.
In a statement, the Queen expressed her “deepest sympathy” and added: “The whole nation has been shocked by the death and injury.”
The attack came on the fourth anniversary of the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby and just two months after four were slaughtered when a Hyundai 4×4 driver mowed down people on Westminster Bridge, central London.
A hotline has been set up for concerned families. It is 0161 856 9400.