Oli SCARFF / AFP | A woman walks past police officers as they stand on duty on Dorset Avenue in Moss Side, Manchester, on May 26, 2017, following a raid on a residential property as their investigations continue into the May 22 terror attack

Britain has arrested a "large part" of the network behind Manchester's suicide bomb attack, police said Friday, while the government came under fire for cutting police budgets as election campaigning resumed.

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The arrests of two more men on Saturday, aged 20 and 22, bring to 11 the number of suspects currently held in detention on UK soil over Monday's attack, for which the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.

Police in Libya have also detained the father and brother of 22-year-old bomber Salman Abedi.

The UK's top counter-terrorism officer, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, said police have arrested "a large part of the network" linked to the atrocity in which 22 people died, including seven youngsters under the age of 18.

"We are very happy we've got our hands around some of the key players that we are concerned about but there's still a little bit more to do," he said.

Police said the nine men in British custody ranged in age from 18 to 44, including a 30-year-old arrested in the notorious Moss Side area of south Manchester early Friday and a 44-year-old detained in nearby disadvantaged Rusholme neighbourhood later in the day.

"I woke up because I heard the police shouting, they were shouting 'Get down, it's the police, hands on the ground, get on the ground'," said local resident Anita Santonelli, who said she saw around 10 armed police officers during the morning operation.

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Following Monday's attack in which 116 people were also injured, May and Corbyn temporarily suspended campaigning for the June 8 general election. But campaigning is now back and the gloves are off. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn arguing that it was the "responsibility" of governments to minimise the risk of terror by giving police the funding they need. Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May was warned numerous times -- including by a Manchester police officer at a conference in 2015 -- about the dangers of cuts made by the Conservatives when she served as interior minister.

There is concern and controversy about how some are responding to the Manchester terrorist attack. While the majority are sending words of love and support to the victims and the city as a whole, some on the far right have sparked fury with their reaction. The famous UK right wing broadcaster Katie Hopkins caused outrage for tweeting: “We need a final solution. #Machester [sic]”echoing the language of Adolf Hitler. She has since been fired from her job on a London radio station due to the tweet. And famed Daily Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson has called for the “internment of thousands of terror suspects” on Twitter, once again echoing Nazi philosophy.

There are fears that such language could inflame tensions during election season.

US 'full responsibility'

The United States' top diplomat Rex Tillerson also visited London on Friday in an expression of solidarity after Britain reacted furiously to leaks of sensitive details about the investigation emanating from Washington.

"We take full responsibility for that and obviously regret that that happened," the secretary of state told reporters.

Britain briefly suspended intelligence-sharing with the United States on Thursday over the leaks, but Tillerson said the "special relationship" between the two countries would "withstand this particular unfortunate event".

US President Donald Trump has threatened to prosecute those responsible for the "deeply troubling" security breach.

'Critical' threat

Monday's bombing at a concert by pop idol Ariana Grande was the latest in a series of IS-claimed attacks in Europe that have coincided with an offensive on the jihadist group in Syria and Iraq by US, British and other Western forces.

Dozens of IS fighters were killed in US strikes on Syria on Friday, while masked gunmen killed at leat 28 people in an attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt.

Britain's terror threat assessment has been hiked to "critical", the highest level, meaning an attack is considered imminent.

The issue of security, which was not widely discussed in the general election campaign before the attack, is now expected to feature highly.

A YouGov poll in The Times newspaper put the Conservatives on 43 percent compared to Labour on 38 percent, far better for Labour than the double-digit margin that had previously separated it from the governing party.

However, the poll also suggested that 41 percent of respondents believe the Conservatives would handle defence and security best, compared to 18 percent who said the same of Labour.

YouGov polled 2,052 people on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hunting accomplices

May was at the G7 summit in Sicily on Friday where she got the group to demand action from internet providers and social media firms against extremist content online.

"The fight is moving from the battlefield to the internet," she told the G7.

She faced questions from British journalists over police funding cuts during her six years as the interior minister.

The number of police officers fell by 14 percent, or almost 20,000, between 2009 and 2016, according to the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank.

"We have protected counter-terrorism police funding, we've increased the funding for our security and intelligence agencies and we continue to provide them with the support they need," she insisted.

Manchester-born Abedi, a university dropout, grew up in a Libyan family in the northwestern English city.

Libyan officials said he and his brother Hashem belonged to IS, while their father Ramadan once belonged to a now-disbanded militant group with alleged ties to Al-Qaeda.

A British official said that Abedi had been on the periphery of the intelligence radar before the massacre.

Tributes continue to pour in Central Manchester after attack

Manchester defiant

US star Grande said Friday she was planning a charity concert in the city, writing on social media that she wanted to give "an expression of love for Manchester".

On Friday evening, the city hosted an athletics contest, the Great City Games, in which the likes of former world 100 metres champion Kim Collins competed amid robust security.

Victims Alison Howe, 45, and Lisa Lees, 47, were honoured Friday by a vigil in their home town of Oldham, east of Manchester.

Hundreds of people gathered in the Tandle Hill Country Park, releasing pink helium balloons and laying flowers.

"The memory of our victims and their bravery will be known in all of our hearts. We are Manchester, and we stand together," said speaker Elisia Smith, 24.

Tattoo artists in Manchester have reported a rush of people seeking inkings of worker bees, a longstanding symbol of the industrious city.

Some 66 people are still being treated in hospital, including 23 in critical condition, medical officials said.

Twelve of those injured were under 16, and the youngest killed was an eight-year-old girl.

The decision of IS "to target a concert full of children shows their intentions are not authored by God," Tillerson told British media during his visit.

He said the jihadist group "worships death".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP)



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