Secret service "could have stopped" Manchester bombing: Report

Officials from Britain's secret service MI5 missed key intelligence warnings that could have stopped the Manchester Arena terror attack, a media report claimed.

The Sunday Times newspaper in a report said the warnings could have put suicide bomber Salman Abedi under surveillance as a "high-priority" before his attack in May, the worst act of terrorism in Britain since the London bombings in 2005, Xinhua news agency reported.

The report claimed the security service received at least two items of intelligence regarding Abedi's "suspicious behaviour" that indicated he posed a serious threat before his suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena which came at the end of a concert by the US singer Ariana Grande.

The failure to act properly on the intelligence has emerged in an MI5 internal review that has triggered deep concerns within the intelligence community about whether the attack could have been stopped, the report added.

The Sunday Times said the findings are thought to have been sent several days ago to Britain's Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

The report said the failure has placed the position of the MI5 director-general Andrew Parker under close scrutiny, saying the Abedi bombing represents the most significant intelligence failure of the five terror attacks in Britain this year.

--IANS

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