Manchester police not sharing intelligence with US after leaks: report

Police in Manchester, England, will stop sharing intelligence with the U.S. about the arena bombing following a string of leaks to American media outlets, the BBC reported Thursday. 

Officials hope the two-way information stream between the two countries can resume soon, the British outlet reported. It added that Manchester police are currently “furious” about leaks that shared information about the crime scene and the bomber’s name.

{mosads}Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said Thursday the leaked crime scene photos by The New York Times caused “understandable” distress and “upset” to the victims’ families.

Investigators would typically pass along the collected information to National Counter-Terrorism, the BBC noted, which would then share it with the U.S. and other allies.

The Times on Wednesday published crime scene photos it said were “distributed by British authorities.”

Those photos came shortly after the bomber’s name was leaked to the U.S. media.

A tweet by the Associated Press cited U.S. officials as the news service’s source. 

BREAKING: US officials: British authorities have identified suspected Manchester suicide bomber as Salman Abedi.

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 23, 2017

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, a top British official, called the leaks “irritating.”

“The British police have been very clear that they want to control the flow of information in order to protect operational integrity, the element of surprise,” Rudd told BBC’s Radio 4 Wednesday. 

“So it is irritating if it gets released from other sources. And I have been very clear with our friends that that should not happen again,” Rudd continued, adding that it shouldn’t “happen again.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May will reportedly tell President Trump that shared intelligence “must remain secure,” according to reports on Thursday.

#Breaking Theresa May says she will “make clear” to President Trump that intelligence shared between UK and US must remain secure pic.twitter.com/1CRqECDdyu

— Press Association (@PA) May 25, 2017

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack at an Ariana Grande concert that killed almost two dozen people and injured over 100 others.