The UK terror threat level has been raised to its highest level of “critical”, meaning further attacks may be imminent, Theresa May has said.<\/p>\n
Military personnel will now be deployed to protect key sites under the new threat level.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the mother of Olivia Campbell has named her daughter as the fourth victim of Monday night’s Manchester bombing which killed 22 and injured 59.<\/p>\n
Writing on Facebook, she paid tribute to her “precious” daughter, aged 15.<\/p>\n
Olivia’s mother, Charlotte Campbell, had issued an emotional plea<\/a> for information on her daughter’s whereabouts after the Ariana Grande concert.<\/p>\n The change in terror threat comes after investigators were unable to rule out whether suspect Salman Abedi acted alone, the prime minister said.<\/p>\n The prime minister said soldiers would be placed in key public locations to support armed police in protecting the public.<\/p>\n Military personnel may also be seen at other events over the coming weeks, such as concerts, Mrs May said, working under the command of police officers.<\/p>\n BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the number of UK troops deployed will be in the hundreds not around the 5,000 figure being reported.<\/p>\n The prime minister said she did not want the public to feel “unduly alarmed” but said it was a “proportionate and sensible response”.<\/p>\n The highest threat level, which is decided by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – a group of experts from the police, government departments and agencies – has only been reached twice before.<\/p>\n Met Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, who is the national counter-terrorism policing lead, said the investigation was “fast-moving and making good progress”.<\/p>\n “However, a critical line of inquiry is whether the dead terrorist was acting alone or part of a group,” he said.<\/p>\n “We still have critical lines of inquiry they’re chasing down which has led to a level of uncertainty.”<\/p>\n The first time the threat level was raised to critical was in 2006 during a major operation to stop a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners with liquid bombs.<\/p>\n The following year, security chiefs raised it once more as they hunted for the men who had tried to bomb a London nightclub, before going on to attack Glasgow Airport.<\/p>\n Former Salford University student Salman Abedi – understood to be a 22-year-old born in Manchester to parents of Libyan descent – is thought to have blown himself up in the arena’s foyer shortly after 22:30 BST on Monday.<\/p>\n Fans were beginning to leave a concert by US singer Ariana Grande.<\/p>\n Three of his victims have been named – Saffie Rose Roussos, eight, Georgina Callander – thought to be 18 – and John Atkinson, 28.<\/p>\n So-called Islamic State has said – via IS channels on the messaging app Telegram – it was behind the Manchester attack, but this has not been verified.<\/p>\n The wounded, who include 12 children aged under 16, are being treated at eight hospitals across Manchester.<\/p>\n Several people are still missing, including Eilidh MacLeod, 14, from Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19.<\/p>\n Eilidh’s friend, Laura MacIntyre, 15 – who was also reported as missing – was later identified as one of the seriously injured in a Manchester hospital.<\/p>\n Thousands of people turned out for the vigil in Manchester and to hold a minute’s silence to remember those who died.<\/p>\n Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Commons Speaker John Bercow stood on stage alongside Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins.<\/p>\n Vigils have been held elsewhere, including in Birmingham, where the event was interrupted after a man apparently armed with a large knife and a baseball bat was detained nearby.<\/p>\n The arena bombing is the worst terrorist attack in the UK since the 7 July bombings in 2005, in which 52 people were killed by four suicide bombers.<\/p>\n Witnesses at the arena described seeing metal nuts and bolts<\/a> among the debris of Monday’s bomb, and spoke about the fear and confusion that gripped concert-goers.<\/p>\n Andy Holey, who had gone to pick up his wife and daughter, said: “An explosion went off and it threw me about 30ft from one set of doors to the other set of doors.”<\/p>\n Emma Johnson, who was waiting for her children, aged 15 and 17, said: “The whole building shook. There was a blast and then a flash of fire afterwards. There were bodies everywhere.”<\/p>\n Teenager Abigail Walker told the BBC: “I had to make sure I had my sister. I grabbed hold of her and pulled hard. Everyone was running and crying.<\/p>\n “It was absolutely terrifying.”<\/p>\n Analysis By Dominic Casciani, BBC home affairs correspondent<\/strong> For the past few years, ministers, police chiefs and others have been at pains to try to warn the public that the threat faced by the UK was severe.<\/p>\n But they have steered clear of warning, even when a major plot was being tracked, that an attack could be close. This time, they feel they have no choice other than to say it may be imminent.<\/p>\n In short, nobody at this stage can say for sure whether Abedi acted alone or with the help of others. They can’t rule out if there are other people out there.<\/p>\n What does it mean for us, the public?<\/p>\n Some of us will see the Army in key locations that need guarding so that armed police can be freed to focus on policing rather than guarding.<\/p>\n We should expect additional time-consuming security checks at ports and so on.<\/p>\n The aim for security chiefs is to ratchet up the security while keeping the country moving.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\nThis is a major and very rare move by the UK’s security chiefs.<\/p>\n