ISIS Claims Responsibility for Manchester Concert Attack; 22 Are Dead -
By KATRIN BENNHOLD, STEVEN ERLANGER and CEYLAN YEGINSUMAY 23, 2017
MANCHESTER, England — The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a bombing at Manchester
Arena, the deadliest terrorist assault in Britain since 2005, as the death toll rose to 22.
“This attack stands out for its appalling, sickening cowardice — deliberately targeting innocent, defenseless children
and young people who should have been enjoying one of the most memorable nights of their lives.”
The terrorist attack was the worst in the history of Manchester
and northern England, and the worst in Britain since 2005, when 52 people died, along with four assailants, in coordinated attacks on London’s transit system.
“This type of target was absolutely foreseeable, as Islamic State has increasingly been highlighting in its propaganda
that scores of children have been killed in coalition and Russian strikes targeting Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria,” said Michael S. Smith II, a terrorism analyst who specializes in the Islamic State’s influence efforts and who is writing a book on its external operations.
“We now know that a single terrorist detonated his improvised explosive device near one of the exits of the venue, deliberately choosing the time
and place to cause maximum carnage and to kill and injure indiscriminately,” Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain said in a televised statement.