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Manchester explosion: Police treating it as terrorist attack; US officials say suicide bomber behind blast

PM May says police treating it as terrorist attack

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Police vehicles are seen outside the Manchester Arena, where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing in Manchester, northern England, Britain, May 23, 2017.
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Two US officials said a suicide bomber was suspected behind the explosion at the end of a concert by US singer Ariana Grande in the English city of Manchester which killed at least 19 people and injured 50.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but US officials drew parallels to the coordinated attacks in November 2015 by Islamist militants on the Bataclan concert hall and other sites in Paris, which claimed about 130 lives.

Two US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said that initial signs pointed to a suicide bomber as being responsible for the blast.

"The choice of venue, the timing and the mode of attack all suggest this was terrorism," said a US counter terrorism official who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the incident was being treated as a terrorist attack.

"We are working to establish the full details of what is being treated by the police as an appalling terrorist attack," she said in a statement. "All our thoughts are with the victims and the families of those who have been affected."

If confirmed, it would be the deadliest militant assault on Britain since four British Muslims killed 52 people in suicide bombings on London's transport system in July 2005.

The blast also came two and half weeks ahead of an election in which Prime Minister Theresa May is predicted by opinion polls to win a large majority.

A witness who attended the concert said she felt a huge blast as she was leaving the arena, followed by screaming and a rush by thousands of people trying to escape the building.​

In March, a British-born convert to Islam ploughed a car into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge, killing four people before stabbing to death a police officer who was on the grounds of parliament. He was shot dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the blast in Manchester in the UK which killed at least 19 people and injured around 50.

"Pained by the attack in Manchester. We strongly condemn it. Our thoughts are with the families of the deceased & prayers with the injured," he tweeted.

(With Reuters inputs)

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