Manchester suicide bomber spoke with brother 15 minutes before attack

British authorities are trying to contain the network they believe is behind the Manchester attack as it emerged that the suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, reportedly spoke to his brother in Libya just 15 minutes before he detonated his explosives.

"We are following up on the network, rolling it up, trying to contain it. As you've seen from the number of arrests, we are on the right track to try to contain it," UK Security Minister Ben Wallace told CNN in Manchester on Friday. "In the end, you get to the bottom of a network."

Investigators continue to work around the clock to track down associates of Abedi, a 22-year-old Briton of Libyan descent, amid fears he is part of a network plotting further mayhem.

On Friday, authorities arrested a man from Manchester's Rusholme neighborhood.

Then, two more men were arrested early Saturday, police said in a statement. The men were taken into custody after officers carried out a controlled explosion to enter a home in the Cheetham Hill area of central Manchester.

Those actions brought the total number of people arrested in the investigation to 13, with 11 still in custody.

Two people have been released without being charged, Greater Manchester police said.

Hashim Ramadan Abu Qassem al-Abedi, brother of Salman Abedi, was arrested in Libya on Tuesday.

His younger brother, Hashim Ramadan Abu Qassem al-Abedi -- detained in Libya in the aftermath of the bombing -- knew of his brother's movements and about the plot, Ahmed Ben Salem, spokesman for the Special Deterrence Force in Tripoli, told the private broadcaster, Libya's Channel, on Thursday night.

The brothers spoke on the phone just minutes before the attack at a concert at Manchester Arena, Ben Salem said, but Hashim told his Libyan interrogators that he did not know details about where and when the blast would be.

The Special Deterrence Force in Tripoli, a militia nominally under the control of Libya's interior ministry, arrested Hashim al-Abedi a day later on suspicion of links to ISIS. The militia also arrested the brothers' father, Ramadan al-Abedi.

What's happening in Libya?

Earlier this week the militia said Hashim had admitted -- under interrogation -- that he and Salman were members of ISIS. It also said Hashim was in Manchester during the planning for the attack and that he had been aware of the plot.

Salman Abedi entered Libya on April 19 and left on May 17, telling his family that he was going to Saudi Arabia to perform the Umrah pilgrimage, Ben Salem told Libya's Channel. It was a deception, and only his brother Hashim knew that Salman actually returned to the UK, according to Ben Salem.

Salman Abedi may have received ISIS training in Syria, US officials say.

Asked if there was any indication Salman Abedi had received training in Libya or planned an attack inside Libya, Ben Salem said, "I don't think so." Based on what the bomber's brother has told the militia, "everything was prepared in Manchester" since the end of 2016, he said.

US officials told CNN this week that it is likely Salman Abedi received some ISIS training by traveling to Syria in the months before the bombing, according to information gathered in the preliminary investigation.

Monday's attack on concert-goers leaving an Ariana Grande show killed 22 people, many of them children, and injured dozens more.

In her first comments since the attack, Grande said Friday in a note on Twitter that she is sorry for the "pain and fear" her fans are feeling. She said the fans killed Monday will be on her mind and in her heart forever.

"I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life," said the singer, who also announced Friday that she will hold a benefit concert in honor of the victims of the Manchester attack.

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com