UK security threat level lowered as police close on bomber´s suspected network

LONDON: Britain lowered its security threat level to "severe" on Saturday following significant activity by police investigating the suicide bomb attack on a pop concert in Manchester, Prime Minister Theresa May said.

Earlier, police hunting a suspected network behind Salman Abedi, the bomber who killed 22 people on Monday night, said they had made two further arrests overnight as they closed in on other possible cell members.

May said this meant that the independent body which sets the threat level had decided it should be lowered from its highest rating "critical", which means an attack could be imminent, to "severe".

As a result, soldiers who have been assisting police, would be withdrawn from Britain´s streets from midnight on Monday.

"A significant amount of police activity has taken place over the last 24 hours and there are now 11 suspects in custody," May said.

"The public should be clear about what this means.

A threat level of severe means an attack is highly likely.

The country should remain vigilant.

"The threat assessment has now been returned to the level it was at prior to the Manchester attack.

Officers said they had used a controlled explosion to gain entry to an address in the north of the city where two men were detained on Saturday.

Some hours later, police cordoned off a large area in the Moss Side area of south Manchester and houses were evacuated with a bomb disposal unit sent to the scene.

A man working in a local shop, who declined to be named, told Reuters he saw three men being taken away from the address.

"As part of an ongoing search at a property in Moss Side an evacuation is currently being carried in the area," police said in a statement.

On Friday, Britain´s most senior counter-terrorism officer said police were confident that they had made "immense" progress and had apprehended a "large part of the network".

However, extra armed officers will be on duty across the country with security stepped up at some 1,300 events over the long holiday weekend.

The Times newspaper reported on Saturday that intelligence officers had identified 23,000 jihahist extremists living in Britain.

Earlier this week a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters the security services were managing 500 active operations involving some 3,000 people who were thought to pose a threat.