8 men in custody after more raids conducted to disrupt 'network'

Two men have been arrested by counter-terror police in Greater Manchester in connection with Monday's attack, bringing the number in UK custody to eight. One of the men was detained following searches of an address in the Withington area of the city, while another was arrested in a part of Greater Manchester that was not disclosed. A woman arrested in the Blackley area of Manchester on Wednesday has been released without charge. The eight men are in custody following raids across Manchester, Wigan and Nuneaton, and Warwickshire, following the attack by suicide bomber Salman Abedi that claimed 22 lives. Police carried out a controlled explosion at a property in the Moss Side area of Manchester, although no arrests were reported.

Abedi's father, Ramadan Abedi, was arrested in Tripoli with his brother Hashim, who Libyan security forces said was "aware of all the details" of the attack. A 23-year-old man — Abedi's older brother Ismail - was detained in Chorlton, south Manchester, on Tuesday. Ramadan Abedi had earlier claimed his son Salman was innocent, saying: "We don't believe in killing innocents. This is not us." Abedi visited Germany just four days before launching his attack, it has been revealed. Intelligence sources told Focus Online Abedi flew from the city of Düsseldorf to Manchester, but was not on an international database or a list of potential Islamists being tracked through Europe.

German police are now investigating whether Abedi, who had reportedly visited Germany at least twice, had links to Islamist networks in the country. "We need to clarify whether Abedi was introduced to people in Syria who he has now met in North Rhine-Westphalia or Hesse," an official from the Federal Criminal Police Office told Focus. Abedi appeared to have carried a powerful explosive in a lightweight metal container concealed either within a black vest or a blue Karrimor backpack, and may have held a small switch in his left hand, according to preliminary information gathered by British authorities. The initial analysis of the bomb, based on evidence photographed and collected at the crime scene and distributed by British authorities, does not specify the size or type of explosive used in the bomb's main charge but suggests an improvised device made with forethought and care.

Law enforcement images of metal nuts and screws propelled by the blast, and of damage nearby, show that the bomb's makeshift shrapnel penetrated metal doors and left deep scuffs in brick walls. And the authorities' review of the blast site shows that many of the fatalities occurred in a nearly complete circle around the bomber, whose upper torso was heaved outside the lethal ring toward the Manchester Arena entrance.