Manchester; From ‘critical’ to ‘severe’?

Facts

The Manchester attack on 22^nd May, 2017 by suicide bomber - Salman Ramadan Abedi, a 22-year-old British Muslim killed 23 people (adults and children). NHS (National Health Scheme) confirmed that 54 people who were injured during the attack are still being treated at 8 hospitals and 19 are receiving critical care, there were 116 people were injured in the attack. An investigation following the attack was immediately carried out, with the government deploying troops all over the city as part of security measures. British interior minister, Amber Rudd stated that as further progress was made in the investigation, the terrorist threat was lowered from ‘critical’ to ‘severe’.  

On the Radar but No Scrutiny?

The Manchester attack on Monday was regarded the deadliest attack in UK since 2005, when a series of coordinated attacks were targeted at London’s public transport, killing 52 people, with over 700 injured that year. The government faces criticism as Abedi was on the police radar but was not scrutinized by the security forces. Could this have prevented the attack?

The 22-year-old, Salman Abedi was reported on several occasions with regard to his extremist views. The dates of the attack however, seemed to have gained more attention on social media; on 22^nd March, 2013, Islamic terrorist killed an army officer in London. On 22^nd March this year, 5 people were killed when extremists drove a car into pedestrians, outside the British Parliament. The incidents may have occurred with various destructive degrees but nevertheless coincided on a specific date, the Manchester attack on 22^nd May, 2017 is testimony to this.

Analysis

The government has decided to look into the matter from retrospect, so as to understand Abedi’s whereabouts and connections. It was mentioned that the 22-year-old suicide bomber was known to the government even before the attack. The MI5, UK’S domestic security agency was aware of Salman Abedi but not as someone whose actions demanded immediate attention.

Manchester has now launched a ‘post incident investigation’ to look into the attack and to see how certain warnings were overlooked. The police have made an appeal to the public to help trace Abedi’s movements from the 18^th of May, on his return to the UK from Libya.

Rudd was asked if some of the group was still at large, the Home Secretary responded by saying, “Potentially. It is an ongoing operation. There are 11 people in custody; the operation is still really at full tilt in a way." The Manchester Security Forces were looking at 500 different potential plots, 3,000 people as ‘top list’, with 20,000 beneath that.

Assessment

The Invisibility Factor

The terrorists have a significant advantage over the government, given the fact that they can carry out operations anonymously gives them an ‘invisibility shield’ to operate to their effectiveness. In most cases, the government has to undertake intensive investigations to find out if individuals are working with other terrorists’ organizations, as is the case with Manchester’s government initiating a ‘post incident investigation’.

The government is constantly trying to come up with effective tools to tackle terrorism. Intelligence agencies and technology companies try to decipher information relevant to a terrorist attack by using networks, to find out groups that promote extremist ideologies and also by unveiling encrypted messages. However, there are many bottlenecks that appear in this situation; for instance, technological companies such as ‘WhatsApp’ say they are not able to break end-to-end encryption. When incidents like these occur, the real question beneath is whether our state apparatus is well equipped to handle even the most localized crimes plot against the human race?

Terrorism is a battle that rages against humanity, the government will have to develop better means to curb it, before it nullifies its existence.