Manchester police crackdown sees new armed raids and arrests

Salman Abedi, pictured on CCTV on the day of the bombing. Photo / AP

A crackdown on the suspected terror network behind the Manchester Arena suicide bomber saw police carry out a flurry of new armed raids and arrests.

Gun-carrying officers swooped on sites across the city as they worked to stamp out any lingering threat from co-conspirators to last week's massacre.

The total number of people in custody over the attack rose to 13 when a 19-year- old man was detained during a search of a house in the Gorton area of the city today.

Salman Abedi killed 22 people when his home-made suicide device tore through crowds leaving an Ariana Grande concert, with 54 people injured in the attack still being treated in hospitals, 19 of them receiving critical care.

With the intense series of police operations showing no signs of abating, a 25-year-old man is being held on suspicion of terror offences in the Old Trafford district.

Counter-terror officers stormed addresses in Gorton, Rusholme and Moss Side and explosions were reported at several of the searches, but police would not comment on whether controlled blasts were used to gain entry.

Three people were arrested, but quickly released during the operation at Moss Side, leading them to post an outraged sign on their front door.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd says temporary exclusion orders, banning suspected jihadis from returning to the UK, have been used for the first time.

Rudd says members of Abedi's circle could still be at large, despite a wave of arrests leading to the country's terror threat level being de-escalated.

CCTV stills of Abedi, bespectacled and casually clothed, were released by police in a plea for information about his movements between May 18 and the attack.

Seven children were among the dead in what was the most costly terror attack to hit Britain since the July 7 bombings in 2005.

Manchester trauma surgeon racially abused on his way to work https://t.co/KA1Ep9ecf0

— The Guardian (@guardian) May 28, 2017

A Muslim man offered free hugs while blindfolded in Manchester. This is how people reacted. pic.twitter.com/jwtaaAjyo9

— AJ+ (@ajplus) May 28, 2017

- PA, AAP