THE Manchester bomber met with an IS unit in Libya last month, it was revealed yesterday.

Evil Salman Abedi travelled to the capital Tripoli and the town of Sabratha to see operatives from Katibat al-Battar al-Libi, a cell linked to the 2015 Paris attack.

4 Salman Abedi carried out the bombing, which killed 22 and injured many more Credit: AP:Associated Press

The 22-year-old jihadi also kept in contact with the group when in the UK, using disposable phones, a senior US intelligence official told The New York Times.

The content of their chats remains unknown.

But spy chiefs believe the group gave him significant help in the attack which killed 22.

4 Salman Abedi blew himself up, killing 22 people at Ariana Grande's concert

Originally made up of Libyans who had come to Syria to fight in the civil war, the IS unit became a magnet for French and Belgian foreign fighters.

A retired European intelligence chief said: “If the content of the call was sensitive, Abedi used phones that were disposable.

Or dispatches were sent from Libya to his ‘friend’, living in Germany or Belgium, who passed it on to Abedi.”

4 Abedi is pictured on the beach with pals during a trip to Libya as a kid

The leadership of IS has been co-ordinating with loyalists in Libya since at least 2015.

Their Libyan province, based in Surt, grew to their most important outside Iraq and Syria.

The group recently lost more than 100 miles of coastline. But members are still said to maintain operational capability.

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Units like al-Battar became home to IS shock troops, specialising in the use of assault rifles and suicide belts.

They fight as long as they can then set off their explosives — like at the Bataclan in Paris.

4 Deadly mastermind... Paris ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud also worked with al-Battar

Officials say al-Battar taught the techniques to Paris ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud and operatives behind the beach attack in Sousse, Tunisia.

Cops made a 17th arrest over the Manchester bombing — seizing a 24-year-old man in Rusholme late on Friday.