Manchester synagogue attack: Police name assailant in mass stabbing incident as a British citizen of Syrian descent

Police said on Thursday that the suspect in the deadly attack outside a synagogue in Manchester in northern England was believed to be Jihad al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent.

"We believe the person responsible for today's attacks is 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie," Greater Manchester Police said late on Thursday. "He is a British citizen of Syrian descent."

Al-Shamie was shot dead by armed officers after ramming a car into pedestrians and stabbing at least one person near a synagogue during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

The police added that three suspects - two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s - were currently in custody and "have been arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism."