{"id":322017,"date":"2017-05-24T06:33:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T06:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=322017"},"modified":"2017-05-24T06:33:09","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T06:33:09","slug":"manchester-attack-uk-terror-threat-level-raised-to-critical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/05\/manchester-attack-uk-terror-threat-level-raised-to-critical\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester attack: UK terror threat level raised to critical"},"content":{"rendered":"
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 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
‘Sensible response’<\/strong><\/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