WarSclerotic

British counterterrorism police are investigating stabbings at Manchester Victoria train station that left three people injured, including a police officer, on New Year’s Eve, the Greater Manchester Police said.

Police were, however, keeping an open mind as there was no intelligence suggesting a wider threat, the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement posted on Twitter. They said a man is in custody and those injured were in a “serious” but not life-threatening condition.

The stabbings occurred at about 8:50 p.m.

“Tonight’s events will have understandably worried people but I need to stress that the incident is not ongoing, a man is in custody and there is currently no intelligence to suggest there is any wider threat at this time,” Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said in a statement.

Police said the man in custody is being held for “questioning on suspicion of attempted murder.”

Britain is currently on its second-highest threat level of severe, meaning an attack is considered highly likely and security officials say they are facing record levels of work in countering Islamist militants as well as far-right extremists after four major attacks last year.

Manchester itself was the scene of a suicide bomb attack in May 2017 that killed 22 people as they left an Ariana Grande concert.

Meanwhile, a car plowed into crowds celebrating New Year’s Day early on Tuesday in a suspected terrorist attack, leaving eight people injured, including one seriously.

A police spokesman said one suspect, in his 20s, had been detained and that he had described the incident as an “act of terror.” The spokesman declined to elaborate.

The incident happened shortly after midnight local time on Monday in a popular tourist area of Harajuku, near Meiji Shrine, in central Tokyo.