Test run of terror on the Thames

Armed police act out attack response

Armed police played out the chaos of a “pleasure boat” terrorist attackonthe Thames in a unique marine-based exercise to test the emergency response to gunmen.

A sightseeing vessel became the scene of a fierce mock-gun battle between armed officers and police volunteers posing as terrorists shortly after 11am yesterday, close to the London Docklands area.

The exercise, codenamed Anchor, marks the first time the Metropolitan Police have enacted a liveaction, water-borne exercise of its kind, with over 200 officers involved.

Armed officers boarded the moving vessel in a hail of gunfire after a simulated hijacking in which a group of officers posing as gunwielding terrorists assumed command of the boat in a role-play hostage scenario.

At least one “body”, played by a police volunteer, was cast overboard, and officers were deployed to assess the effectiveness of rescue operation tactics in life-like conditions.

The multi-agency operation was carried out between the Met, the Port of London Authority, London Coastguard, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution ( RNLI), London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade.

It was designed to test every phase of the emergency services’ effectiveness with a river-based terrorist attack in the capital – from the moment an incident is reported to the conclusion of a rescue operation.

CommanderBJHarrington, head of theMet’s public order command, said the exercise was not planned in response to any “specific intelligence” about an impending marine attack.

But he noted that recent terrorist incidents on the continent showed how would-be attackers have diversified their means of inflicting harm to the general public.

He said: “It’s important to point out that the exercise has not been designed in response to any specific threat. There’s no information thatwe have thatwe’re preparing for.

“Of course, we have seen a number of incidents abroad in the past few years: Nice, Berlin. We have seen different methodologies developing and, of course, the river runs right the way through London, so why wouldn’t we prepare for that?”