London, December 20
In the “bluntest” warning issued by the British police, Scotland Yard has said that businesses in the city of London could face a Mumbai-style terror attack early next year.
“Mumbai is coming to London,” said a senior detective from SO15, the Metropolitan police's counter-terrorism command.
The detective said companies should anticipate a shooting and hostage-taking raid “involving a small number of gunmen with handguns and improvised explosive devices”, The Sunday Times reported.
The warning issued by the police has underlined an assessment that a terrorist cell may be preparing an attack on London early next year, it said. Patrick Mercer, Chairman of the Commons counter-terrorism sub-committee, said the threat was “very real”.
Officials now report an increase in “intelligence chatter” communications captured by electronic eavesdropping agencies.
One senior security adviser said the police warnings had intensified and become much more specific in the past fortnight. “Before, there has been speculation. Now we are getting what appears to be a definite plot to carry out a firearms attack on London,” the unnamed adviser said.
The warning was issued by the Metropolitan police through its network of security forums, which provide business leaders, local government and emergency services with counter- terrorism advice, the paper said.
According to the newspaper, concerns had been raised by “chatter” of a prominent 'jihadist' website two weeks ago.One contributor suggested fighters could use automatic weapons to strike places such as nightclubs, sporting venues and Jewish centres.
In a discussion on December 2, another contributor invited suggestions for carrying out “guerrilla warfare” and proposed a group of mujaheddin raid police stations and fire at them.
— PTI
