His cousins spoke to ITV about what they felt after learning of the atrocity committed by someone they had grown up with
THE cousins of Salman Abedi - the suicide bomber who took 22 lives when he attacked the Manchester Arena last week - have revealed their horror over what he did.
He targeted people coming out of an Ariana Grande gig on May 22, killing and injuring people who had come from all over the UK.
His cousins spoke to ITV about what they felt after learning of the atrocity committed by someone they had grown up with.
They said: "I couldn't stop crying, especially the first few days when I was being questioned, and every time that story was brought up - little girls innocent lives, we just couldn't stop ourselves from just crying.
"That's all you can do really - their lives, 22 lives have gone."
Adding: ";We had a lot of things in common, a lot of things in common.
"We used to do all sorts of things like playing football to, you know, experiencing the party life. All sorts, I'm not going to deny that.
"Similar thoughts, similar things we used to do, it's just the way it's flipped - I have no idea why that's happened and how it's happened."
Since the horrific attack it has emerged Abedi used to play football with two fellow United supporting Jihadis in the city.
The 22-year-old bomber would play five-a-side regularly with Khalif Shariff who died fighting for ISIS and an RAF convert Stephen Gray who was convicted of terror offences.
Last week cops released two full-length images of Abedi — with the lift wall blacked out — on his way up to the section of the arena he would detonate the nail bomb.
It came after pre-dawn raids carried out by the SAS and police last week led to the seizure of missing explosives at a house in Manchester’s Moss Side area.
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And now investigators believe Abedi bought most of the parts for the deadly bomb on his own after arriving in the UK from Turkey four days before the atrocity.
Cops also believe Abedi moved alone in the days prior to the attack.
Detective Chief Superintendent Russ Jackson, Head of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “Our enquiries show Abedi himself made most of the purchases of the core components.
“What is becoming apparent is that many of his movements and actions have been carried out alone during the four days from him landing in the country and committing this awful attack.”
