Manchester attack: New York Times defends leaking pictures of attacker's home-made nail bomb

Manchester bombing: New York Times defends evidence leak
Via: New York Times

The New York Times has defended the publication of leaked photographs appearing to show the bomb used in the Manchester terror attack and said the decision was “responsible”.

The publication of the images which seemingly showed parts of bomber Salman Abedi's torn rucksack and a detonator, suspected to have been sent to the American newspaper by US police officials, led to a spat between the country and British authorities.

After receiving widespread criticism, the newspaper said the pictures were "neither graphic nor disrespectful of victims, and consistent with the common line of reporting on weapons used in horrific crimes."

Greater Manchester Police temporarily severed information sharing ties with their American counterparts after the pictures were shared.

The images appear to the remains of the attacker's rucksack (Via New York Times)
Via: New York Times

In furious response counter-terror chiefs said the publication “undermined their investigation.”

In statement, The New York Times said: "The images and information presented were neither graphic nor disrespectful of victims, and consistent with the common line of reporting on weapons used in horrific crimes.

"We have strict guidelines on how and in what ways we cover sensitive stories. Our coverage of Monday's horrific attack has been both comprehensive and responsible."

The pictures were reportedly leaked to the newspaper by US officials (Via New York Times)
Via: New York Times

It proved a headache for British security circles, and came hours after the Government issued a warning to US officials not to leak details of the terror investigation.

The suicide blast killed 22 people at a packed Ariana Grande gig at Manchester arena on Monday night.

Following the attack on, Theresa May on Tuesday night announced the UK’s terror threat has been raised to critical, meaning another attack may be imminent.

Since then, military personal have been deployed to “key areas” across the UK to provide support to armed officers.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in