Dealers in terror know no borders

Before targeting Manchester, extremist groups have targeted the Middle East and Europe

Policemen work after an explosion at the Manchester Arena. Peter Byrne / PA via AP Photo

A solemn but defiant mood enveloped Manchester in the United Kingdom following Monday night’s suicide bombing at a concert arena. Described by Theresa May, Britain’s prime minister, as a “callous terrorist attack”, the incident, which ISIL claimed as its barbaric handiwork, will concern security services throughout Europe. Suicide bombings had decreased in recent months – the last was a year ago at Zaventem airport in Brussels – replaced by more rudimentary methods of attack involving knives, guns and cars.

As Middle Eastern countries have surrounded ISIL and Al Qaeda strongholds, halting their ability to plan attacks, and European countries have targeted extremist cells, the ability of terror groups to plan technical attacks such as suicide bombings has declined. If this is a return to well-planned attacks, rather than a lone wolf detonating a home-made device, it is profoundly worrying.

The attack will be felt particularly in the UAE, given our strong links with the city through Manchester City Football Club and its related investments. Many in the UAE will have links of family and friendship to the city. But more than that, it will resonate across the region because it is just one more in a continuum of cities that were once thought safe, before terrorism came calling.

The Middle East and the West are living through a particularly difficult period for terror attacks. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, cities that were previously safe like Baghdad and Mosul found themselves the targets of attack. The same happened in other countries, in the aftermath of the Arab Spring revolutions.

As happened in Manchester, places where friends gathered to enjoy music were targeted. There is a straight line that connects attacks on the Citadel in Aleppo to the Bataclan concert in Paris to the Reina nightclub in Istanbul and now to Manchester Arena. Places that were once safe have come under siege.

This attack may turn out to have motives more connected to the UK election than extremism – before last year’s referendum in the UK, a British MP was murdered. We will only know for sure once the authorities have completed their investigation. By yesterday afternoon, UK police had made their first arrest.

At the moment it looks more likely to be part of the extremism that plagues the world. Such extremism knows no borders and no boundaries. In Abu Dhabi, we have always felt connected to Manchester. Today, that connection feels closer than ever.