Posts Tagged ‘Style Attack’

Well, we are well into December and the run up to Christmas has been halted to a certain extent by the weather.

It has been reported that Special Forces teams are working undercover at some of the Countries largest Shopping Centres in response to potential terrorist action.

How absurd even mentioning this. It would be impossible to have such teams in every shopping centre and outlet around the country so to a certain extent the terrorist cells have valuable intelligence and will now divert possible action away from the prominent targets. It is indeed worrying that if the reports are true then it shows not how likely such an attack is but how worried the security services are about the threat.

It has been reported also that up to 60,000 Pakistanis Migrate to the UK every Year. Among them will undoubtedly be extremists with a wealth of terrorist knowledge.

India has seized Maoist material showing that they are experimenting with explosives to make more devastating bombs and devices. AQ will be doing the same and their sophistication was shown during the interception of the toner bombs on US bound aircraft.

Mumbai style attacks are worrying indeed with the terrorist having the upper hand, knowing where and when he will strike. The only way of combatting this is to have Israeli style plain clothes security in towns and cities pro filling and looking for suspicious activity. I think it will be a long time before that is socially acceptable and in the meantime we can only breathe a sigh of relief as we get through another day. Sent via BlackBerry® from BT

We have been publishing since this time last year (2009) that Britain was at risk of a Mumbai style attack. Back in 2009 a report appeared that suggested that Police were concerned that there was a Terror Cell in or around London that had the capability and resources to carry out such an attack. The threat never went away during 2010 but its only now that so much emphasis has been given to this topic with plans afoot to up arm and train the Police in offensive tactics. Giving them fully automatic weapons and training them to fire and manoeuvre.

In the past few days security forums and websites have been saying its a matter of “when and not if” there is a Mumbai style attack in Europe. Lets not be complacent about this threat. Any City is at risk. It doesn’t have to be London, Paris or Berlin. There is on constant in all of this and that is how long is it going to take to respond? In Mumbai over 160 people were killed in the first minutes. Could officers get to the scene and find fix and contact the Terrorist in minutes? this is the big unanswered question.

We reported at the end of 2009 that there was concern over an active cell in London with the capability and resources to carry out an attack on the Capital. This seems to have hit the news over the last days and weeks and it has now been reported that the Police are to be trained in offensive firearms tactics.

We have reported that the Police and Military had no answer to such an attack and we still believe that reaction to an attack wont be quick enough. In Mumbai over 160 people were killed in the first minutes. The widespread panic that will ensue if such an attack takes place will make driving to the area of an attack slow to say the least. The instigators will have the upper hand and the casualty toll would be immense.

How will the Police be trained? having a gun battle with terrorists (if they get there in time) in Central London will undoubtedly mean innocent casualties. The Police currently have single shot facility on their weapons. If they were given fully automatic weapons or burst automatic capability then in a moving battle how will they carry ammunition?

These are indeed worrying times and we hope that there is multi agency consultation and not a half hearted attempt to counter the threat.

Intelligence agencies have discovered AQ plans to carry our Mumbai style attacks in Europe. During the attacks in Mumbai over 160 people were killed in the first mins of the attack.

Do we have an adequate response to such an attack? I believe that we don’t. The police couldnt react in sufficient numbers in that time and the SAS also could not mount any Counter Insurgency in that time. We have been told that armed officers who are already in the City area would be there to react.

When you see these officers walking round they are normally in pairs chatting to each other and not really taking account of whats happening around them. Any terrorist who carries out efficient Hostile Reconnaissance will note this and make the armed officers the first target. Terrorists will have fully automatic weapons where as the police only have single shot facility on the common H&K MP5.

One of the reasons it is thought that the UK Threat level was raised from substantial to severe is to counter a new and emerging threat.

As we reported a few days ago AQ has gone through a restructure and are arguably more popular than ever in the Muslim world.

It is thought that AQ in Pakistan has the capability to take over an airliner and plan to fly it into a British City. We reported before Christmas how UK intelligence feared a Mumbai style attack on the Capital. AQ does indeed have global reach and despite mutterings to the contrary the UK is a hot breeding ground for fundamentalism.

We have no doubt that Farouk Abdulmutallab (Christmas Day bomber) was radicalised in the UK. We support free speech and of course with such liberal views on free speech is going to mean that suggestive ideas are bound to be aired.

We in no way advocate the damping down of freedom of speech but we certainly advocate the message to the masses that terrorism is and remains a very real risk and we ALL should be playing our part.

Vigilance is key to our safety. The Security Services have and do do a magnificent job but they also rely on low level intelligence, what's happening on your street that is unusual? Are you concerned about something that you have heard or witnessed?

We are very good and overriding our better judgement and trying to make sense of what we have seen or heard but if we take stock and report our fears it may just avert an attack.

The way AQ operate, especially in Europe and other developed Countries is to recruit people who are not on Security Service radar and so don't arouse suspicion.

The only way of combatting this is the vigilance of the masses. Many people don't think they or their businesses would be terrorist targets. What is a terrorist target? In the case of AQ any business and anybody is a target so burying heads in sand is a very short sighted and misguided view.

Sent via BlackBerry® from BT

As 2009 draws to a close the UK and indeed the World is no better place than when the Year began. We have reported in the last 2 weeks that London Business was briefed by SO15 (Counter Terror Command) that there was a threat of a Mumbai style attack in London in the New Year. On Christms Day Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to blow up a trsatlantic flight as it came in to land in Detroit. He had evaded airport security with PETN in his underwear.

A Somalli man is in custody in Mogadishu for attemting to take explosives onto an aircraft in November. The style of attack was similar to that of the detroit attack and targeted a Daallo Airlines plane flying to the northern Somali City of Hargeisa then on to Djibouti and Dubai.

Airports in Somalia are one area that the fragile Government still has control of with help from the African Union peacekeeping force. With much of Somalia in the hands of radical Islamist groups it is the first reported attempt of such an act.

In the wake of the Detroit attack calls have been made for improved airport security on transatlantic flights. Why only transatlantic flights? In our opinion security improvements should me made accross the board and the Mogadisu attempted attack highlights that the targets of Islamist groups are not just American and British.

Installing electronic measures is fine and there are some fantastic products on the market but with every electronic system there needs to be effective human intervention to interrogate and investigate what the electronice device has detected. Whereever Humans are involved there will always be the chance of failure.

One way of limiting the chance of failure is to provide a robust well planned and well executed training programme and not the run of the mill packages currently available. I have travelled from UK airports and can spot weaknesses in security at every level.

If we can spot these weaknesses then so can terrorist operatives engaged on Hostile Reconnaisance, and be under no illusion that Hostile Reconnaisance will be taking place all the time.

Spain has just incresed their terror alert level as it prepares to adopt the EU Prsidency on Friday. Raising threat levels is fine but what do they mean? Ask most people involved in physical security what the UK threat level and responses are and they wont have a clue. Give the same people information and training as to what it means wont defeat terrorism but it will reduce the risk.

Not a plesenet way to end 2009 but it is reality.

We wish you all a safe end to 2009 and look forward to providing information to help keep you safe in 2010.

SO15, the Metropolitan Police Counter Terror Command issued a stark warning 12 days ago to City of London businesses. The warning came as chatter and electronic intercepts have increased over the last 2 weeks.

SO15 said companies should anticipate a shooting and hostage-taking raid involving a small number of gunmen with handguns and improvised explosive devices.

The warning, the bluntest issued by police has underlined an assessment that a terrorist cell may be preparing an attack on London early next year.

In Mumbai terrorists killed 174, most of whom died in the first 1/2 hour of the Commando style attack. The worry is that the SAS would arrive to late from Regents Park Barracks.