UK police up training to tackle terror

“The UK security chief ordered an acceleration in police training to prepare for any future Mumbai-style terror strikes in public places,” BBC reported quoting top officials.

Police Armed Response Units are being given more powerful weapons to deal with multiple terrorists going on rampage with automatic weapons.

“This is the first time Metropolitan police have been asked to undertake specialised training,” BBC said quoting a Whitehall official.

They said plans had been drawn for a SAS unit to be stationed in London throughout the 2012 Olympics. The SAS is considered the world’s most lethal specialised forces specially in combating terror threats.

Qaeda plot

The mobilisation of SAS and their imparting training to Metropolitan police units comes after intelligence sources last month uncovered the early stages of an al-Qaeda plot to carry out coordinated attacks in the UK, France and Germany.

BBC said suspects were planning to copy the 2008 attacks in Mumbai where 10 gunmen went on a three-day rampage killing 166 people and wounding more than 300. “Prime Minister David Cameron has taken personal interest in the problem ever since the first threat assessment was given to him when he took office in May,” it said.