UK police: Others may be at large in Manchester attack

Flowers, messages and tokens are left in tribute to the victims of the attack on Manchester Arena, in central Manchester, Britain May 26, 2017. (Photo by AP)

Several people that were involved in the bombing of a concert in Manchester in May are still at large, but the alleged attacker who bombed the concert wasn't part of a large network, a senior police officer in the UK says.

"We don't have evidence of a large network," Russ Jackson, head of counter terrorism policing for northwest England, said on Thursday. "We do, however, suspect others were either aware or complicit in the knowledge of this attack." 

Jackson said the investigation "is likely to run on for many more months to come."

Salman Abedi, a Briton of Libyan heritage, allegedly detonated a sophisticated device as crowds were leaving Manchester Arena on May 22. At least 22 people lost their lives and dozens more were wounded. It was the deadliest act of terror in Britain in over a decade.

In the days after the attack, police arrested 22 people on suspicion of terrorism offenses, but all the suspects were subsequently released without charge.

"We are examining all sorts of lines of inquiry and it is possible more arrests and searches will take place," he said.

The British government has deployed thousands of troops across the country to guard key sites.

According to British Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Abedi was known to intelligence services and he did not act alone.

Local Muslim leaders in Manchester have expressed concern about rising Islamophobic incidents and hate crimes against Muslims following the terror attack.

Senior members of the Muslim community in Britain’s third largest city say that they have received reports of  criminal acts and abusive behavior since the attack.