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Manchester Arena monster Salman Abedi is being probed over his links to a known Islamic State recruiter from the city.

A team including 30 armed officers raided the suicide bomber’s home in the Fallowfield area and police were seen recovering a book called Know Your Chemicals.

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Security services had known about the 22-year-old but it is believed he was not regarded as a high risk.

But the Mirror can reveal an investigation is under way into his ties with fellow Mancunian Raphael Hostey, also known as Abu Qaqa al-Britani.

Abedi was believed to be a family friend of Hostey, who persuaded hundreds of Brits to fight for IS in Syria . The fanatic was blitzed in a drone strike in May last year, aged 24.

Abedi also grew up near Whalley Range High School, where Salma and Zahra Halane went before fleeing to Syria, aged 16, in June 2014. Hostey later boasted of luring the “terror twins” and it is feared he also played a part in Abedi’s radicalisation.

Neighbours said Abedi’s behaviour had become increasingly strange and the Manchester United fan draped an Iraqi flag from his home.

He was said to have started a degree at Salford University in 2014 but dropped out last year – around the time he started growing his beard and chanting prayers in the street.

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Simon Turner, 46, was standing in the street when police swooped at noon. He said: “It was so quick, these cars pulled up and police with guns, dogs, jumped out and said to us, ‘Get in the house now’.”

Alan Kinsey, 52, added: “The police were heavily armed. All of them. It was like something out of a war scene. It was terrifying.”

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The raid involved two helicopters and 30 armed officers in camouflage. It is understood Abedi’s older brother Ismail was arrested.

Forensic officers were seen looking in bins and the front garden – and police confirmed a controlled explosion was carried out at the address.

(Image: PA)

Last night, IS claimed responsibility for the arena atrocity. The terror group said in a statement: “With Allah’s grace and support, a soldier of the Khilafah [caliphate] managed to place explosive devices in the midst of the gatherings of the crusaders in the British city of Manchester.”

Greater Manchester Police confirmed Abedi was the killer but refused to give details on his background. However, other authorities said he was a British national with Libyan heritage, whose family came here in the early 1990s after fleeing Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

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Abedi arrived at Manchester Piccadilly station by train from London on Monday to launch his attack at the Ariana Grande concert.

Security services were last night examining the homemade bomb and said the device was “around 10kg” and contained “bolts and nails”.

(Image: PA)

It is believed Abedi selected the detonation spot to cause maximum carnage as fans left and headed to the train station. It was also a collection point for parents. Sources said Abedi, who had the bomb in a rucksack, was identified by DNA after his lower body remained intact.

Officers are now trying to determine whether Abedi had taken part in a recce of the area in the weeks before the attack.

Vitally, they want to know whether or not he acted alone. A source said: “Any forensic information from the bomb or its components will allow security services to build a profile of the device and anyone who helped build it.”

A key issue is whether Abedi was self-radicalised or supported by a group like IS, which makes Hostey a focus.

Hostey had been in the middle of a degree at Liverpool John Moore University when he left for Syria in 2013 after becoming radicalised through videos.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

A member of Manchester’s Libyan community, who did not want to be named, said the Abedi family, who are Salafists, returned to Tripoli in 2011, after the fall of Gaddafi.

He said Abedi’s parents continued to spend much time there but their children had returned to Manchester.

Asked if Abedi could have had terror training, he said: “I wouldn’t be surprised. A lot of people who went there after the revolution got trained for the militia by the people now controlling Libya.”

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Meanwhile, another suspected terrorist was held yesterday outside a Morrisons in Chorlton-Cum-Hardy, five miles from the arena. Witness Bilal Mahmood, 25, said: “The guy knew straight away what he was being arrested for.

“He didn’t put up any resistance. It was mental. All the police were celebrating, wiping their foreheads in relief.”