UK raises threat level to maximum, army deployed after attack

LONDON: Soldiers are to patrol British landmarks and sporting events in their biggest homeland deployment in decades, as security services warned that another attack by terrorists who killed 22 people at a pop concert on Monday was imminent.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced late on Tuesday that intelligence analysts had raised the UK terrorism threat from "severe" to "critical" — the highest level — for the first time since 2007. Their fear is that the bomber who struck in Manchester, northwest England, on Monday and who was killed in the blast wasn’t working alone.

"Critical means an attack is imminent," Home Secretary Amber Rudd told the BBC on Wednesday. "It is based on intelligence which is assessed by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre."

The worst terrorist incident on UK soil since 2005 came just over two weeks before a general election and ahead of a weekend that has major sporting events scheduled including soccer’s FA Cup final at the national stadium in Wembley, London. Armed troops were deployed in the Houses of Parliament at about midday on Wednesday.

Rudd’s comments went further than May’s the night before. The prime minister had said that raising the threat level to critical meant an attack "may be imminent". The official definition, which the home secretary followed, is that "an attack is expected imminently".

Government buildings have procedures to follow for different threat levels. The Houses of Parliament have canceled all tours, and the Bank of England’s museum is closed. The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, a popular tourist attraction, was cancelled.