Manchester stabbing treated as terror attack

A stabbing in Manchester on New Year’s Eve is being treated as a terrorist attack, police confirmed today.

The attack, which injured three people including one police officer, is being led by counter-terror experts, police said, adding they were “keeping an open mind”.

“We are treating this as a terrorist investigation,” chief constable Ian Hopkins told reporters.

The attack took place at Manchester Victoria train station in the evening yesterday.

The suspect was arrested “within minutes” police said. The man was filmed shouting “Allahu Akbar” while being bundled into a police van. 

The injured included a man and a woman in their 50s and a policeman in his 30s who was stabbed in the shoulder. The civilians are in a serious, but non-threatening condition, police said. The police officer was released from hospital early this morning.

“Tonight’s events will have understandably worried people but I need to stress that the incident is not ongoing, a man is in custody and there is currently no intelligence to suggest there is any wider threat at this time,” assistant chief constable Rob Potts said.

Sam Clack, a BBC producer who witnessed the attack, told BBC 5 Live: “I heard the man say, ‘As long as you keep bombing these countries this is going to keep happening.’”

“It was very, very scary.”