Manchester: A show of solidarity in the face of terror

Police patrol near a sign in central Manchester, Britain on Tuesday. (REUTERS)

MANCHESTER: Less than 24 hours after the worst atrocity ever to hit the city, the streets of central Manchester were thronging with people on Tuesday night, as thousands turned out to pay tribute to the dead and injured in a show of defiance and solidarity in the face of terror.
Newly elected mayor Andy Burnham, a former Labour Party cabinet member, called the vigil in the city’s Albert Square. Earlier, after what was described as “Manchester’s darkest night,” Burnham praised the positive reaction of Mancunians, declaring: “Even in the minutes after the attack they opened their doors to strangers and drove them away from danger. They have the best possible response to those who seek to divide us. And it will be that spirit of Manchester that will prevail and hold us together.”
City Council leader Sir Richard Leese, in office for just three weeks when an IRA bomb struck Manchester in 1996, said: “Manchester has had some dark days in the past but I can’t think of anything that matches the horror of what happened (on Monday) night. But the community is coming together and we will not allow this to divide us just as we have not allowed events in the past to divide us.
“As the citizens of Manchester demonstrated… when they came out to give support to people whatever their needs were, this city will pull together and we will make sure the city will go on from strength to strength. A dark day yes, but something that Manchester, in its own unique way, that turns into a strength for us as a city by working together.”
Twenty-one years ago, when the biggest bomb ever detonated on the British mainland in peacetime devastated Manchester city center, the IRA had given a coded warning, which enabled police to shepherd 80,000 people to relative safety.
More than 200 people were wounded, but the fact that no-one was killed gave rise to legend of the “Miracle of Manchester.”
Last night there was no warning before the atrocious suicide bomb attack on the Manchester Arena, packed with 20,000 young pop music fans. There was no miracle. At least 22 people died — the youngest of the confirmed victims was aged just 8 — and 59 or more injured, with many children among the victims.
The contrast between the two attacks speaks volumes about how the nature of terrorism has changed. In 1996 the IRA saw fit to issue a warning, hardly gallant of them given the size of the explosive device deployed in a busy city center, but perhaps it demonstrated an intention to avoid civilian casualties, however slender.
Moreover, in the case of the IRA it was at least possible to discern a political motive for the attack, however inexcusable the tactics. Neither of those caveats apply to Monday night’s outrage. The prime intention of the suicide bomber, named as 22-year-old Manchester-born Salman Abedi, was clearly to kill as many people as possible with a bomb said to be packed with nuts, bolts and nails.
Nor is it possible to fathom any possible aim that this act of terror was supposed to assist. Like the recent attacks in London and wider world, this was pure nihilistic evil.
If there was no specific warning before the bombing of the arena, security services have long been saying it was not “if” the next atrocity was coming but “when.” There have been plots to attack the Arndale shopping center and Old Trafford football stadium — thwarted by police.
Tragically this one got through, and it seems to have been meticulously planned. The timing of the explosion, as fans were leaving the auditorium en masse, was probably entirely deliberate. And the exact spot in the foyer where the bomb was detonated would not have required the bomber to confront security and enter the arena proper.
Manchester has been here before and reacted in the same way. At the vigil people embraced each other. One said: “Love is the only thing we can do when we are facing hate.”
Dave Haslam, former DJ at Manchester's once-legendary Hacienda nightclub, tweeted: “You’ve got the wrong city if you think hate will tear us apart.” There were almost 50,000 reactions within hours.
• Ray King was a journalist at the Manchester Evening News for 34 years. His book about the IRA bombing of 1996, Detonation — Rebirth of a City, is available on Kindle.