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British cities vulnerable like Mumbai: experts

LONDON: Britain would review its anti-terror strategy in the light of the Mumbai attacks, said Home Secretary Jacqui Smith on Sunday as a former head of SAS — Britain’s elite commando service — warned that London was “unprepared” for a Mumbai-style terror atrocity describing it as a “doomsday scenario” for the British capital.

Ms. Smith told the BBC it was important for Britain to learn lessons from what had happened in Mumbai to protect its interests.

Meanwhile, the SAS officer, who was involved in dealing with the “7/7” London bombings, but cannot be named for security reasons, told The Sunday Telegraph Britain did not have the right type of counter-terror forces to cope with the sort of attack that took place in Mumbai.

“There would be many hours of chaos before the police, backed by the military counter-terrorist response teams, were in a position to contain, let alone neutralise, the terrorist threat,” he said, pointing out that while British police were “brilliant” at dealing with armed criminals they were unlikely to be as effective in fighting terrorists.

“This [a Mumbai-type atrocity] would produce the type of chaos that would defy even the most sophisticated command and control system. You would turn London into a temporary war zone very quickly,” the officer added.

His warning was echoed by other security experts who said that British cities, including London, were vulnerable to a Mumbai-type attack. “What can happen in Mumbai could just as well happen in Manchester or Birmingham... this style of attack is something we’d find very difficult to cope with,” said Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Commons counter-terrorism panel. Peter Clarke, retired head of Scotland Yard’s Counter-Terrorism Command, who was closely involved in investigations into the 7/7 bombings, said there was a real risk of something like the Mumbai attacks happening in Britain.

“It has become fashionable of late to play down the terrorist threat in Britain... Nevertheless, the fact remains that there are people in this country who would welcome the opportunity to bring a replica of the Bombay [Mumbai] attacks to London,” he warned.

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