Tri-Service
Calls For Troops On UK Streets After Brussels Attacks
Military experts are calling for soldiers to be deployed on Britain’s streets, following the attacks in Brussels.
It follows newspaper reports claiming security is being reinforced with more military support in London and around the country.
Operation Temperer is a response plan to potential terrorist attacks.
The Mirror Newspaper quotes a source as saying:
"Britain has never been at so much risk of an attack and everybody believes it’s now a case of ‘when’ it’s going to happen and not ‘if’.
"British troops are brilliant at spotting what they call ‘combat indicators’ - because they have seen it all in Iraq and Afghanistan , even Northern Ireland and are far more experienced in avoiding deadly incidents than most police."
"They have stood on checkpoints trying to spot suicide bombers for days on end, knowing one wrong decision could end in them being blown up.
"That’s why military veterans walk into security jobs with ease - they know what to look for."
Operation Temperer will reportedly allow the UK to send 5,000 soldiers into cities to form rings around an attack, while special forces blast their way into buildings to kill the terrorists involved.
Special forces troops across the country, meanwhile, are said to be being reinforced with further military support in case of an attack.
But politicians favour the use of undercover troops in plain clothes to back up police, rather than an overtly military response, with uniformed troops carrying assault rifles on the streets, according to the Mirror.
Selected infantry regiments across the UK have reportedly been assigned to an Operation Temperer roster since November, with units of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines put on standby at Christmas as the ‘immediate response force’, with all troops directed not to drink over the festive season and given a ‘reporting station’ in case they were called out.
It is also reported that the army’s counter-terrorist bomb disposal unit is building a team, at Didcot barracks in Oxfordshire, tasked with combating a chemical or biological ‘dirty bomb’.
In November last year David Cameron said British security services had prevented seven terrorist attacks in the previous six months, whilst warning that a Paris-style attack "could happen here".
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said:
"The MoD works closely with other government departments and agencies to ensure that it is able to provide appropriate assistance in response to any security threats, including national security. We keep contingency plans under constant review."
Home Secretary Theresa May told the House of Commons on Wednesday that a response plan was in place.
She confirmed security has been stepped up at ports, airports and railway stations.
More border force staff have also been deployed to carry out checks on people and vehicles arriving in the UK.
Army Air Corps Apache helicopters, meanwhile, are said to have been earmarked to be used as “surveillance assets” in case of an attack.
The Apache would be able to see a person’s face from a mile away and send live pictures of an incident to a control room with ease, due to its high-tech camera system.
Although flown by two military experts, it would technically be under the command of the police unless the Home Secretary handed authority to the Army.
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