
Heavily armed police and special service soldiers this afternoon raided a city centre flat in Manchester in connection with Monday night's atrocity.

Officers were seen coming out of a block of flats situated less than two miles from Manchester Arena, where 22 people were killed and at least 119 injured when Salman Abedi blew himself up.

Greater Manchester Police said they closed a railway in order to carry out what has been described as a 'massive raid' in Granby House, Granby Row, in the middle of the city on what is understood to be an AirBnB.

Residents reported how a swathe of massive containers had been arriving recently at the shared accommodation.

Earlier today, three men were arrested in the Fallowfield area of Manchester and neighbours described a 'super-religious Libyan' being frogmarched from his house, which is two streets down from Abedi's.

A total of five people have now been arrested in connection with the worst terror attack in the UK since the 7/7 bombings, including the killer's brother Ismail.

A fifth man was arrested by undercover police in Wigan this afternoon after he allegedly approached a bus with a suspicious package.

Chief constable Ian Hopkins said it is 'very clear' that police are investigating 'a network' linked to the bomber.

Armed officers, believed to include special forces soldiers, raid a property in central Manchester less than two miles from Manchester Arena. Soldiers, deployed all over the UK today, were involved in the raid and BBC diplomatic editor Mark Urban said one trooper was carrying UK Special Forces gear and a jamming backpack

Soldiers and police officers combine to raid the flat in a counter-terror raid in Manchester city centre this afternoon

Officers leaving the block of flats, named Granby House, in the heart of Manchester as a raid is carried out in connection with the Manchester Arena attack

Soldiers pile out of a silver Volkswagen as police officers in high visibility vests are seen behind them next to a riot van

Police outside a house in Manchester, in connection with three new arrests this morning May 24, 2017, believed to be in connection with Monday's terror attack at Manchester Arena

Officers in blue overalls walk towards the building in central Manchester (left) and another officers carries in a black bag

A map showing the various police activity that has engulfed South Manchester this morning and the raids and arrests from yesterday

The police chief added: 'You will be aware that the level of activity in this investigation is intense and is continuing at pace.

Bomb maker may still be at large, say police The bomb maker who provided Salman Abedi with the explosive device used to cause carnage at Manchester Arena may still at large, police have revealed. There are now reports police believe the 22-year-old terrorist had been given the explosive - packed with nuts and bolts - by a bomb maker who is still at large and preparing to mastermind further attacks. It is thought that experts found no traces of explosives or equipment at Abedi's house. According to NBC, a senior US intelligence official said Abedi had used a 'big and sophisticated bomb' made of materials not widely available in Britain. It is understood that bomb making equipment and traces of materials needed to make the type of device used on Monday night were not found at Abedi's home following the raid by armed police in Manchester hours after the outrage. Military specialists had made an electronic sweep of the property to show there was no IED booby trap waiting for the police assault team who raided it. Intelligence officials say they believe the 22 year-old terrorist either made the bomb elsewhere with the help of others or was given the device and trigger mechanism by someone else, possibly during his visit to London in the days before the attack. Advertisement

'We made three arrests in connection with the attacks overnight and this afternoon we entered an address in Manchester City Centre using a controlled explosion.

'Officers are currently at the scene but in order to do this safely we briefly had to close a nearby mainline railway, which has now been reopened. Those extensive searches will now continue.'

Reports of suspicious packages at the building were said to have been investigated by police officers.

Adam Prince, 38, who lives on the third floor where the raid is said to have happened, said he had been allowed into the building by police and smelt 'gunpowder'.

'The flat has been entered, forcibly, there's the smell of gunpowder because they've pushed it in or I don't know what they've done up there,' he said.

'There's dust on the floor. It smells. Splatters on the wall, ash. They are taking different items in and out.

'There's always different people coming in and out. It is usually booked quite a lot. I think it's quite affordable.

'If people had wanted a base for something as evil as this it's a good hideaway isn't it?

'You go into this place and you see a huge amount of packages and stuff like that. I've seen packages in the post room, but that's kind of an afterthought.

'I've seen things that I think are quite unnerving but that's after the fact. There's been huge amounts posted, massive containers.

'I live on the same floor. Years ago it was derelict and it was taken over to turn up to a AirBnB. It has been rented out for about four or five years now.

'The woman who looks after it is always changing the sheets, coming up and down, it's a money-spinner for her.

'But I don't think there's anything you can do to protect against something like this if it's been a hideout or whatever - its very basic but reasonable.'

Soldiers, deployed all over the UK today, were involved in the city-centre raid and BBC diplomatic editor Mark Urban said one trooper was carrying UK Special Forces gear and a jamming backpack.

In a separate incident, BBC's Radio Five Live headquarters in Salford was evacuated in what turned out to be a false alarm as the station was forced to play an emergency broadcast.

Three officers stand in the doorway of Granby House where an anti-terror raid was carried out on Wednesday afternoon

An officer points his finger to direct his fellow officers (pictured left) while a colleague enters the building (pictured, right)

A line of officers walk along Granby Row in Manchester where a raid was carried out in the city centre near the site of the attack

Louise Bolotin, a freelance journalist who lives in the building in Granby Row and was first on the scene, described how the fire alarm went off before police stormed the building and broke into a flat on the third floor.

'I came running down the front staircase, six floors, and got to the front entrance and was met by a police officer in full-on tactical helmet, face mask, machine gun. I was expecting to see the fire brigade.'

She added: 'I said 'What's happening?' and he just said 'Out'.'

Ms Bolotin said there were 62 flats in the building with a 'transient population'.

Around half of the apartments are owner-occupied while the rest are rented out, she added.

Ms Bolotin described the raid as 'absolutely massive'.

She said: 'I saw down there about four armed officers coming out from the back of the building.

'Again, helmets, face masks, machine guns and getting into two unmarked cars and driving away.

'After that about half a dozen army came out in camouflage, weapons.

'There's still a lot of armed officers in the building, some have left. We've had the fire brigade here, at least one fire officer is still in the building.'

She added: 'As far as I know no one has been arrested and brought out of the building.'

It's understood the officers raided a third-floor flat and resident witnesses say they heard explosions as police raided a block of flats in central Manchester following Monday's attack.

Muye Li, a 23-year-old student who lives on the third floor, says he heard an explosion as police stormed an apartment on his floor.

He says officers knocked on his door and 'asked me if I had seen the lady next door', and believed police were looking for a woman.

Omar Alfakhri, who lives opposite the house raided in connection with three new arrests since Monday's terror attack speaks about the moments police arrived and of his shock

Police descended on Salman Abedi's home in Fallowfield, Manchester, where a controlled explosion took place yesterday

Salman Abedi (pictured) had only just returned from war-torn Libya before launching his horrific attack and is believed to have undergone secret jihadi training

A police officer stands outside an address in Fallowfield. It is not clear whether the alleged arrests here were those in connection with the terror attack

Lynne Deakin, 53, who lives on the ground floor of the flats, said she was 'not at all surprised' by the raid.

'I've often said, if I wanted to take out Piccadilly Station, because the line is right at the back, I would put a bomb in that building,' she said.

'I'd park a car underneath. It's been so obvious to me for years.'

She told how she turned off the fire alarm and headed upstairs, where she saw five or six 'army' men outside the raided flat.

'I'd gone up the stairs - I was at one end of the corridor and they were at the other through a fire door,' she said.

'So one of the guys came out and he said 'get downstairs'.

'It was the proper guys that I've seen on the TV with the balaclavas and the big helmets.'

Ms Deakin said while she knew her neighbours she did not know many people in the building.

She said she believed the raided flat had been rented out on property site Airbnb.

Marcus Murray, 27, who lives on the first floor of the building was looking on as officers went in and out.

'I wanted to come back into my flat but there were unmarked cars,' he said.

'I got to the front door and there was a guy with a gun who said I can't go in.'

Mr Murray, a software engineer, added: 'I feel a bit uneasy. Going to sleep is going to be a bit difficult. It just feels unsafe.

'You just don't expect it do you? It's very strange,' he said.

Mr Murray said it is common for people to come and stay in flats in the building just for the weekend.

'It's usually a very quiet street,' he said, adding: 'I felt safe before, but not now.'

Meanwhile, neighbours have described the shocking moment armed police arrested a family in south Manchester at an address linked to the bomber, dragging them out of bed at 2.30am this morning.

A convoy of about six marked and unmarked police cars descended on the quiet, residential street and police armed with machine guns made the arrests at gunpoint, they said.

According to neighbours, those arrested are Libyan and 'super-religious'.

Salman Abedi, 22, the terrorist, had stayed at the address in the past, they said.

Omar Alfakhri, 59, who lives across the road from the property, told MailOnline: 'I was woken up by shouting. At first I thought it was hooligans but then I looked out the window and saw a convoy of police cars, some marked and some unmarked, and armed police standing in the middle of the road.

'The father of the family was dragged out in a T-shirt and what looked like very basic clothes.

'The policemen were shouting at him. I couldn't understand the words but it seemed like they were trying to discipline him for something that he was objecting to.

'Then I saw gradually as the scene unfolded, the rest of the family was taken out.

'The last one I saw was the mum. Normally she was dressed in black, with covered hair.

'This was the first time I saw her dressed like this. It was a long prayer garment, the sort of thing she would grab quickly if a man came to the house and she wasn't dressed.'

An officer stands the other side of a silver people-carrier parked on the driveway of the raided house

Eye witness Omar Alfakhri said he saw a man being dragged out of the house at 2.30am raid

Locals described a family being dragged out of this house in Fallowfield, South Manchester

A t-shirt hangs over the green, wooden front garden fence of a house raided in Fallowfield

Also arrested were either one or more of the couple's sons, thought to range in age between 15 and 25.

It was unclear how many were apprehended in total and neighbours were unsure how many sons they had.

The family, who are understood to be Libyan in origin, are described as secretive, religious and intensely private.

'The father is not open to building any big relationships with people in the avenue,' Mr Alfakhri said.

'I wouldn't dare to ask him anything. Ever since he lived here, I have not spoken to him.'

Other neighbours said the family was 'super religious'.

'They have about 10 kids and you never see any of the girls,' one neighbour, who did not want to be named, said.

'I only ever saw the mother once or twice in 10 years. She always stayed in the house and whenever I saw her she was wearing a veil.'

Neighbours say that the bomber was seen 'in and out' of the house over the years and stayed there from time to time, but it is not clear whether this was his family home.

Two police officers remain stationed outside the address and a cordon remains outside Abedi's suspected house in Fallowfield, less than a mile away from Aston Avenue.

Police outside a house in Manchester as investigations continue in the city of Manchester

A police officer stands on duty outside a residential property in Fallowfield, Manchester

It has not been officially confirmed where the new arrests were made, but the force said: 'Three men have been arrested after police executed warrants in South Manchester, in connection with the ongoing investigation into Monday night's horrific attack at the Manchester arena.'

Heavily armed police raided the home of the killer Salman Abedi in South Manchester at 10.30am yesterday morning.

Having gained entry, police carried out a controlled explosion at his home in the Fallowfield area of south Manchester following a dramatic raid by dozens of officers on the red-brick semi.

Chemical experts were seen outside with specialist instruments amid fears Salman Abedi could have obtained radioactive material.

It is understood that bomb making equipment and traces of materials needed to make the type of sophisticated device used on Monday night were not found at his home following the raid by armed police.

Military specialists had made an electronic sweep of the property to show there was no IED booby trap waiting for the police assault team who raided it.

Intelligence officials say they believe the 22 year-old terrorist either made the bomb elsewhere with the help of others or was given the device and trigger mechanism by someone else, possibly during his visit to London in the days before the attack.

Painstaking forensic examination in the area of the arena where the bomb exploded will have provided both the type of explosive used and how the device was detonated – Abedi is said to have 'activated' it himself.

They are seeking to discover if it was made-up of components such as hydrogen peroxide or a powerful explosive like PETN, meaning it is likely to have been brought in from abroad.

MI5 trawl travel lists MI5 are looking again at those who have returned from Syria, Iraq and Libya for clues to someone who has not been 'compromised' and crossed the security radar who could have trained in bomb making there. Jihadi fighters there have regularly made devices that have been packed with shrapnel, nails, nuts and bombs to cause maximum loss of life and mayhem of the type used in Manchester. These can be sophisticated devices and while the recipes are well known, they require a degree of engineering skills. In Syria and Iraq explosives are plentiful much of it captured while in Libya it is even easier to obtain, often smuggled in from Niger and Chad. Advertisement

French officials said yesterday that Abedi had visited Islamic State fighters in Syria and it is known he had recently been in Libya where there are both IS and Al Qaeda training camps. Significantly, members of his family are said to have links to Al Qaeda.

Both ISIS and Al Qaeda are known to have camps in Libya providing instruction in bomb making and it is possible Abedi was given instruction there but officials say they think it 'unlikely' he made the Manchester bomb on his own.

Detectives say it is 'possible but unlikely' explosives would have been smuggled in to the UK from the region, stressing it is 'more likely' to have come from the former Yugoslavia, if it did come from abroad.

'The type of device used takes considerable expertise to build, transport and detonate,' one former intelligence official said.

'You have to acquire all the components, plan and prepare without raising any alarms and this is not easy.

'We have seen many who wished to be terrorists but very few, thankfully, with the capability to carry it through. Most would choose not to use a bomb simply because it is too difficult. This is very different and several levels above what we have seen in this country recently.

'While it is possible to teach yourself to make a bomb, it is probable that someone else made the device for Abedi and he is still at large, probably in this country, which is why the level of threat has been raised.'

He added : 'The reality we face is that if a bomb maker is at large, it is highly likely he is linked to a cell with a support network all of whom have not been compromised and that is disturbing. It means there are likely to be more devices until the person making them is detained or stopped.'

Before the raid, the first man was arrested and taken into custody.

Ian Hopkins, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, addressed the media and in a recorded message says: 'Part of this response has seen us arrest a 23-year-old man in connection with the attack and we've also carried out two warrants.'

Windows are left ajar in the Fallowfield property as a police officer stands guard outside

Police officers arrive at a residential property in Fallowfield, Manchester, on May 24, 2017, as investigations continue into the May 22 terror attack at the Manchester Arena

A dramatic raid was carried out at the house of Salman Abedi yesterday with residents reporting hearing a loud explosion

The details of the arrests emerged as:

Three men were arrested in south Manchester in connection with the concert bomb attack on Monday night

More details emerged of those killed, including a Polish couple and an aunt who shielded her niece in the blast

Prime Minister Theresa May raised the terrorism threat level in Britain to 'critical' - the highest possible rating

Thousands of troops will be deployed to guard 'key locations' amid fears another attack is 'imminent'

Home Secretary Amber Rudd vented her frustration over US leaks revealing details about the attack

Countries around the world supported Britain by lighting up major buildings in the colours of the Union Jack

French president Emmanuel Macron revealed plans to extend the country's state of emergency until November.

Elsewhere, Vicarage Field shopping centre was evacuated as police dealt with a suspicious package in Barking.

A man was arrested for obstructing the search under the Terrorism Act.