Authorities have released new CCTV images of Salman Abedi, the Manchester bomber, walking through the streets of the city in an attempt to track his movements prior to the attack. Officers are hoping to enlist the public in helping them piece together the events of the lead-up to the attack at the Manchester Arena last Monday that killed 22 people.
Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unite, said “significant progress” was being made in the investigation. But he also noted that officials are still trying to figure out why Abedi went to the Banff Road area in Rusholme.
In the wake of the tragedy, some have claimed that warnings to authorities regarding Abedi were not followed up leading up to the attack. However, officers have been unable to find any records of calls about Abedi to the police Anti Terrorist Hotline. As a result, police have asked anyone who previously called about Abedi to reach out again.
The new CCTV images show Abedi walking around the city.
Jackson said of the images:
“We are still working to track the movements of Salman Abedi and have already released a number of images of him, in the hope that they will jog people’s memories.
“Today, we are releasing further images of Abedi, so I would ask you to look closely at them and contact us if you saw him. We know that Abedi left the country on April 15 and arrived back on May 18 and we now know from our inquiries that he purchased parts for the bomb after arriving back. What we still need to understand is if he had any of the bomb parts in his possession before he went out of the country, this is why we are tracking his movements so carefully.
“We have made a lot of progress in this with the use of CCTV and have received some really helpful calls from the public. This has led us to the Banff Road area in Rusholme.”
Jackson further explained that his department are conducting house-to-house inquiries but were “still not satisfied” why Abedi was there. Jackson said that it was “vital” that they unearth the reasons behind the bomber’s movements and who he spoke to leading up to the attack.
