By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Jihad Al-Shamie (35) who carried out the attack outside a synagogue in Manchester, England was running on bail after being arrested on rape charges early this year and may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology, a top police official in the investigations said.
Al-Shamie was a British citizen of Syrian descent, police said. Syrian-born attacker ploughed a car into a crowd outside the synagogue and went on a stabbing spree. The attack was later declared as a terrorist attack. The attacker was shot dead within minutes.
Meanwhile, three more persons have been arrested in the Synagogue attack which left two people dead and three injured on Thursday. Six persons have been arrested so far.
“Based on some fast time assessments conducted on our systems, this individual does not appear to be known to Counter Terrorism Policing, however he does have a non-CT related criminal history. This includes a recent arrest for rape, which resulted in him being bailed,” Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Laurence Taylor said.
“At this stage, we believe Al-Shamie may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology. Establishing the full circumstances of the attack is likely to take some time, Taylor said.
“We have now arrested three further people, one man and two women, aged between 18 and mid-40s. This brings the number of people in custody arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism to six.
“We will be seeking warrants of further detention for all six individuals and will seek to issue an update on this later.
“I would like to once again stress that our investigation is still in its early stages. I know there is significant public interest in this case, and we will seek to provide timely updates on our progress where possible.
“We would ask people to refrain from speculation or sharing unverified information as that could potentially cause unnecessary delays in our enquiries and additional upset for all those impacted by these horrific events,” Taylor said.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the “vile” assailant who “attacked Jews because they are Jews.” He promised the Jewish community that he would do “everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve.”