Global Security Newswire

Emergency responders in the United Kingdom on Wednesday began a large-scale, two-day drill aimed at testing their readiness to handle a potential terrorist assault on the London Underground during this summer's Olympics, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 12).

The exercise began at the shuttered Aldwych subway stop and involved medical first responders, firefighters and law enforcement officials. The drill envisioned a terrorist strike on one of the most hectic days of the upcoming games, which are scheduled from July 27 through Aug. 12.

Officials would not provide specifics about the simulation on the grounds it was important to keep participants on their toes.

"(It's about ensuring) that we have the right people in the right places, that we understand how others operate and that we are talking to each other at the right levels and in the right way," said Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison.

The drill did remind some of the July 2005 terrorist attacks on the London public transportation system, British Transport Police spokesman Simon Lubin said.  First responders' reactions to those attacks, in which 52 people died when four suicide bombers detonated hidden explosives on a bus and three subway cars, have been criticized.

"If there are mistakes, this is the time to make them, not when there's a real incident, Lubin said (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 22).