Manchester bombing cops arrest woman after armed raids on high-rise flats in Blackley
A WOMAN arrested after raids on high-rise flats in Manchester has been released without charge.
Locals reported hearing shots fired in the area as heavily armed cops swooped as part of their ongoing investigations into the terror attack on Monday.
A man was also arrested on Wednesday evening, at an address in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, with one woman and six men so far arrested in the wake of the Manchester terror attack.
A spokesperson said searches had been carried out, saying: "These searches are connected to Monday's horrific attack on the Manchester Arena, but this is a fast moving investigation and we are keeping an open mind at this stage.
"A woman has been arrested at an address in connection with the investigation."
However police have since confirmed that the woman has since been released without charge.
It comes as saying: "It was a devastating occasion, it was more sophisticated than some of the attacks we’ve seen before, and it seems likely, possible, that he wasn’t doing this on his own.
"So the intelligence services and the police are pursuing their leads in order to make sure they get all the information."
The terror threat was raised to critical in the UK with Greater Manchester Police chief constanle Ian Hopkins saying the priority was to "determine whether he (Abedi) acted alone or was part of a network".
Bomber Salman Abedi’s brother Hashem, 20, has been arrested in Libya on suspicion of Islamic State links.
His other brother was arrested in the UK just hours after the attack, with their father, Ramadan Abedi, reportedly grabbed by masked authorities as he was interviewed in Tripoli.
But questions have begun to surface with fellow students of the terrorist revealing they had expressed concerns about the terrorist's radical comments five years ago.
Speaking out about the latest raid, Alex Finnie, 54, said armed police and "men who looked like soldiers" were involved in the swoop, which he believed was on the 12th floor.
He heard a noise which sounded like windows being blown out as police entered the flat.
He then saw a woman with dark hair and wearing a blue shirt with her hands cuffed behind her back and pressed up against a window.
He told the Press Association: "When the bang went I heard screaming and shouting and then they took the woman out.
"She was facing this way out the window and a couple of minutes later two armed police took her away. "After the first one I heard loud banging on another door but on the same floor."
The woman was driven away in a police van, he said, adding that armed police were preventing residents from accessing the floor.
Police presence has been increased across the UK after 22 people were killed in the bombing attack on Manchester Arena.
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The attack has left Manchester city reeling, with people still missing.
Resident Chris Barlow said there was a "huge bang" and "huge police presence".
"There was about 30 people on the street - they said there's been an explosion at the flats, a bomb or explosion."
"There's CTU (counter terrorism unit) special forces - I spoke to one officer and they said they blew the door in and took a couple of people away."
James Mooney, 27, said his sister was inside her flat on the 12th floor and had not been in touch since the "bang" sounded at around 6.50pm.
"I was on the phone to her," he said.
"There was a big bang and she went 'oh no' and she dropped her phone or something."
Police remain posted outside the building, with officers only allowing residents to access the last stretch of road leading to the block.
The brothers of the suicide bomber have both been arrested, with his father also reportedly taken by masked guards during a TV interview.
Family and friends had warned