Spies on both sides of Atlantic hunting for Manchester bomb culprits

Intelligence agencies from the UK and US are looking for anyone who may have been involved in the Manchester Arena bombing that killed 22 people, including an 8-year-old girl.

In a rare public statement released through Twitter, the Secretary General of MI5 – Britain’s internal security agency – said the service was “revolted” by the attack.

“Our teams have been working with the police through the night to assist the investigation.

“We remain relentlessly focused, in numerous current operations, on doing all we can to combat the scourge of terrorism and keep the country safe,” he added.

On Monday, a spokesperson for the US State Department hinted on Twitter that the Americans were working very closely with the UK government and supporting efforts to investigate the deadly attack.

US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats also weighed in.

“ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack in Manchester, although they claim responsibility for virtually every attack,” he said in a statement.

“We have not verified yet the connection. We spent a significant amount of time discussing threats to our respective homelands. It’s a tragic situation that we see all too much of in countries around the world, particularly our allies.

“Once again, it reminds us that this threat is real, it is not going away and needs significant attention to do everything we can to protect our people from these kinds of attacks,” he said.

Speaking to Sky News, former Ministry of Defence counter-terror chief Major General Chip Chapman suggested that intelligence agencies may well be dealing with a terror network.

“Most of the time it’s not a lone individual. It’s very rare that you’ll find someone who’s able to construct a bomb as a lone individual,” he said.