UK Terror Threat Level Reduced from 'Critical' to 'Severe', May Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - The UK threat level has been reduced from critical, which means an attack is imminent, to severe, which means an attack is highly likely, Theresa May has said.
The threat level has been lowed in response to fresh arrests and raids linked to Monday's suicide bombing.
Troops will be gradually withdrawn from the streets from Monday onwards, having been drafted in to bolster police numbers, the Prime Minister said, Independent reported.
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) increased the threat level to "critical" - its highest level - meaning a further terror attack was considered "imminent".
Speaking after a meeting of the government's Cobra emergency committee, she said the decision had been taken after "a significant amount of police activity" over the last 24 hours.
She said: "The public should be clear about what this means - a threat level of severe means an attack is highly likely. The country should remain vigilant."
The massacre, in which 22 people were killed, was the worst terrorist atrocity to hit Britain since the July 7 attacks in London in 2005.
The de-escalation came as a street in Manchester's Moss Side was evacuated by counter-terror officers.
Boscombe Street was said to been cleared on Saturday morning, with one witness describing a bomb-disposal van parked at the junction with Yew Tree Road.
An address in the area was being searched by detectives as they sought to close the net on the suspected terror cell behind Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi.
Yamma Wu, 29, said she had been ordered not to leave her house by officers.
