Abedi traveled back and forth to Libya over the last few years, where his father returned as recently as 2011.
Prime Minister Theresa May raised the terror-threat level to “critical” on Tuesday, a rare move that suggests another terror attack may be imminent. That decision comes amid growing evidence that 22-year-old Salman Abedi, the suspect who detonated an explosive at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, killing himself and more than 20 others, was likely part of a larger terror network.
Authorities in the United Kingdom increasingly believe Abedi had help in plotting the attack, and are now relentlessly seeking possible accomplices and trying to track down the location where the bomb could have been manufactured, reports the New York Times. United Kingdom Home Secretary Amber Rudd noted the “sophistication” of the bombing compared to other recent attacks in England and elsewhere as a sign Abedi isn’ t a lone wolf. “It seems likely, possible, that he wasn’ t doing this on his own, ” Rudd said. Sources have told the BBC that officials suspect Abedi was a “mule” — carrying and sacrificing himself on the orders of others.
Operations are under way across Manchester as authorities try to piece together Abedi’s backstory and the events leading up to the attack. At least five people have been arrested in and around Manchester in connection with the attack so far, including a 23-year-old apprehended on Tuesday. Police declined to identify those individuals, or give information on their potential ties to the bomber, but the 23-year-old man arrested Tuesday is believed to be Abedi’s older brother. The Independent also reports that Abedi’s younger brother — who is either 20 or 19 — was detained in Tripoli, Libya, on Wednesday.
ISIS has claimed responsibility, saying one of its “soldiers” carried out the attack. But it is still not entirely clear how deep a connection Abedi had to the terror organization. According to the Guardian, Abedi was known to British intelligence, but was seen as being on the edges of the extremist movement, rather than a central player. So now police are tracing the 22-year-old’s path toward radicalization — and whom he might have come in contact with along the way.
Abedi was born in Manchester in 1994 to Libyan parents who fled the Qaddafi regime. Abedi, whose family was one in a large Libyan community in the city, was known as “quiet boy” to neighbors, one who played soccer and became an avid Manchester United fan. He went to nearby Salford University to study business, but he reportedly stopped going to class and eventually dropped out.
Abedi’s father reportedly returned to Libya in 2011; Abedi’s mother and the children stayed behind, though his mother recently moved back to the war-torn country, says CNN. Abedi apparently traveled regularly back and forth from Libya to the U. K. at a time when that country was becoming engulfed in violence and factionalism. A French official has said Abedi may have gone on to Syria at some point, too.
Abedi is believed to have spent three weeks in Libya most recently. The New York Times reports that his parents may have been aware of, and worried about, his radicalization, and so threatened to take away his British passport. But Abedi told his mom and dad he had plans to go to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, and they apparently relented. Instead, Salman Abedi returned to Manchester, where, days later, he slaughtered young kids and teens, and their parents, on their way out of a concert.
Both parents, however, have denied their son’s involvement in the Manchester bombing. His father, Ramadan Abedi, told the Associated Press that Abedi was getting ready to go to Saudi Arabia, and then planned to come back to Libya. “We don’ t believe in killing innocents. This is not us, ” he said.
