Officials in the US government on Wednesday continued to leak important Intel regarding the UK terror attack in Manchester, ignoring public complaints from the British government. Amber Rudd, Home Secretary in the UK slammed US officials who had leaked important intelligence to the US media before being confirmed. The Home Secretary said that such a leak threatened the operational integrity of the ongoing investigation into the Manchester attack that killed 22 people and injured nearly 60 others. Most of the victims of the attack were children and teens who were attending the Ariana Grande concert.
On Tuesday, various news outlets were reporting on the identity of the attacker who has since been identified as Salman Abedi. The media outlets confirmed that the leaks came from US officials, something that appears to have angered the UK government. Rudd went on to say that she was “irritated” by the leaks saying that the British police had made it clear that it was important for them to have full control of the flow of information so that the operational integrity of the ongoing investigation would not be compromised.
The Home Secretary noted that the release of such important information came as a huge surprise and that US officials had been warned to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. However, Rudd failed to comment on whether the leaks had affected the investigation in any way. Despite this public condemnation, it seems like the leaks are far from over. Barely a day after the complaint, there were additional leaks that emerged online. The leaks offered an account of Abedi’s family and the means that were used by the British police to identify him.
It is emerging that this information was leaked by US intelligence officials. Some leaks also noted that the UK bomber had some help making the bomb and that the family of Abedi had warned the UK over their son’s link to terror. These are very specific operational details that can only have come from people who have inside knowledge of the ongoing investigation. It’s not the first time the US government has come under fire for leaking intelligence. The Washington Post had earlier reported that officials in the US had leaked important intelligence on the Islamic state to top Russian operatives including diplomats during a visit in the White House.
The intelligence is said to have been provided by Israel, a close US ally in the Middle East. During a press conference in Downing Street, a representative of the Prime Minister’s office told reporters that the Prime Minister would not comment on the leaks and later confirmed that Theresa May had talked with President Trump a few hours after the attack. However, despite this, there is no doubt that these leaks are uncalled for and it will be interesting to see whether they will stop or not. The UK is in a state of mourning after the worst terror attack in the country since terrorists killed more than 50 people in a coordinated attack on London’s transport system back in 2005.
