UK raises terror threat from severe to critical in wake of Manchester Arena attack

SOLDIERS are being deployed in the streets of Britain as PM Theresa May warns the threat of another attack is “critical”.

BRITAIN is bracing for another terror attack, with the country’s threat level rising from “severe” to “critical” in the wake of yesterday’s Manchester Arena bombing.

British soldiers are being deployed to assist armed police, Prime Minister Theresa May said this morning.

“It is a possibility we cannot ignore that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack,” she said after a suicide bomber killed 22 people, including several children, at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.

“It is now concluded, on the basis of today’s investigations, that the threat level should be increased for the time being from severe to critical.

“A further attack may be imminent.”

British PM: "Threat level should be increased for the time being from 'severe' to 'critical,'"attack may be imminent https://t.co/UcLSuutDJL

— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 23, 2017

According to MI5, a threat level of critical means “an attack is expected imminently. The scale of five levels doesn’t go any further, and has only been set this high twice before.

Ms May’s dramatic statement came as a 23-year-old British-born man named Salman Abedi was identified as the suicide bomber who detonated a nail bomb in the foyer of Manchester Arena after the concert.

“It is a possibility we cannot ignore that there is a wider group of individuals linked to this attack,” Ms May said at her Downing Street office.

She announced that the army would be deployed on the streets to support armed police under a plan codenamed Operation Temperer, which was developed in the aftermath of the November 2015 Paris terror attacks.

“This means that armed police officers responsible for duties such as guarding key sites will be replaced by members of the armed forces, which will allow the police to significantly increase the number of armed officers on patrol in key locations,” Ms May said.

“You might also see military personnel deployed at certain events such as concerts and sports matches, helping the police to keep the public safe.”

Concert goers are seen escaping Manchester Arena after an explosion at an Ariana Grande concert.

Armed police respond after reports of an explosion yesterday.

Police named Abedi as the suspected suicide bomber, as the Islamic State jihadist group claimed responsibility for the carnage.

British media said he was born in Manchester, northwest England, and that his Libyan parents had fled the regime of dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Monday’s attack came just over two weeks before Britain votes in a general election and is the latest in a series of deadly incidents across Europe.

NOT THE FIRST TIME

The Manchester attack comes four years to the day that British Army soldier Lee Rigby was rammed with a car and brutally hacked to death in London.

Ribgy, a member of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was attacked near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich by British-born Islamic converts — Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.

The attack was one of the first documented vehicular terrorist attacks in the West, according to international policy organisation the Counter Extremist Project.

It also comes just two months after Khalid Masood killed five people right near Britain’s Parliament in a shocking terror attack.

Masood, who used up to five aliases, had spent time in three different jails, and lived at homes across London and Birmingham before he launched the attack.

He was shot by police but later died.

Police stand guard near the Manchester Arena following the suicide bombing which was packed with children. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

TERROR THREAT ‘REASSESSED’

Meanwhile ASIO and the Australian Federal Police have been ordered to reassess the terror threat in the wake of yesterday’s devastating attack, The Australian reported.

NSW police said there was no specific domestic threat and there has not been any order for upgrades or strengthening of the current security measures in place.

The review is expected to target events such as Sydney’s Vivid Festival which starts this Friday as well as major sporting events.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has also updated its advice for Australians travelling to the UK, advising travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution.”

“In light of the UK’s increase to its threat level, we now advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in the United Kingdom,” the warning reads.

‘MORE TO COME’

Earlier attacks, including vehicle-borne assaults in Berlin and Stockholm, have coincided with an offensive on IS redoubts in Syria and Iraq by US, British and other Western forces.

Threatening more attacks, IS said in a statement published on its social media channels: “One of the caliphate’s soldiers placed bombs among the crowds.”

The suicide bombing came at the conclusion of Grande’s concert at the 21,000-capacity Manchester Arena, one of Europe’s largest indoor venues.

Witnesses described the horror when the bomber blew himself up.

“When we left, down the stairs there was probably early teenagers lying on the floor covered in blood and blood on the walls where they’d been laid, so it was just horrifying,” female concertgoer Alex Grayson told AFP.

Today police staged an armed raid on a Manchester address believed to be where Abedi lived, carrying out a controlled explosion to gain entry.

Inside, police found a disturbing clue. Forensic officers were pictured carrying out a copy of a booklet entitled “Know Your Chemicals”.

Helpers attend to people inside the Manchester Arena after a bomber detonated an explosive device at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people. Picture: PA/AAP