Salman Abedi launched his suicide attack out of ‘a love of Islam’ and in twisted revenge for US airstrikes on Syria, his sister has claimed.

Jamona Abedi failed to condemn her brother’s murderous actions but instead claimed to offer an explanation for the atrocity, in which 22 innocent people, many of them children, were killed.

Miss Abedi, who lives in the Libyan capital Tripoli, said her brother had become increasingly violent over the course of the past year, convinced that Muslims were under attack both in the UK and abroad.

Miss Abedi, who posted a prayer in mourning for her brother on her Facebook page, suggested the bombing of Syria ordered by President Trump in early April had been the final straw; the catalyst for Monday night’s carnage.