Updated December 06, 2017 08:38:12

Photo: "Many learning points have emerged" after the Manchester attack, the report says. (Supplied: Goodman/LNP/Rex/Shutterstock)

A suicide attack at a pop concert in Manchester that killed 22 people in May might have been prevented if the security services had responded differently to intelligence in the months before the attack, a government report has found.

Salman Abedi, a 22-year-old Briton born to Libyan parents, blew himself up at the end of a show by US singer Ariana Grande in the deadliest militant attack in Britain for 12 years.

His victims included seven children.

Here is what we know so far about the man suspected of killing 22 people with a nail bomb in Manchester at an Ariana Grande concert.

A government-commissioned report by David Anderson, the former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, found security services were passed two pieces of information on the bomber earlier this year.

The report said security services did not consider the intelligence terror-related at the time, but now said it was "highly relevant".

"It is conceivable that the Manchester attack in particular might have been averted had the cards fallen differently," the report said.

The finding follows a review of the roles of the security services in four attacks in London and Manchester between March and June this year that left 36 innocent people dead.

Three of the six attackers were known to the security services, but only one person was under active investigation, the report said.

Photo: Security services did not consider the intelligence terror-related at the time, but now say it was "highly relevant". (Reuters: Neil Hall)

Overall, it said Britain's security services had performed well amid a growing threat from Islamist militants.

"It is not the purpose of the internal reviews, or of this report, to cast or apportion blame," the report said.

"But though investigative actions were for the most part sound, many learning points have emerged."

As authorities hunt a possible terrorist cell, ABC's Philip Williams says questions will no doubt be asked about how authorities missed this deadly attack.

Britain has thwarted nine plots in the past 12 months, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said.

Interior Minister Amber Rudd told Parliament the intelligence services and counter-terrorism police are currently carrying out more than 500 live investigations, up one-third since the beginning of the year, and are investigating more than 3,000 people.

The review found Abedi was one of a small group of former suspects of interest whom Britain's security services were considering investigating further.

A meeting was due to be held to discuss the potential threat on May 31 — nine days after the attack on the Manchester Arena.

Reuters

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, united-kingdom, england

First posted December 06, 2017 08:18:48