Future drills will now feature mock suicide bombers yelling, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!”
Police chiefs have apologised after a ‘suicide bomber’ shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ just before a fake terrorist attack at the Trafford Centre .
GMP came under fire on social media following the staged training exercise with people demanding to know why it had been linked to Islam.
‘Allahu Akbar’ is Arabic for ‘God is Greater.
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan responded personally to the complaints on Twitter, saying the use of the phrase was unacceptable and apologised to anyone who was offended.
He then released a statement repeating the apology and saying it was ‘unacceptable’ to use the phrase. […]
“The scenario for this exercise is based on a suicide attack by an extremist Daesh style organisation and the scenario writers have centred the circumstances around previous similar attacks of this nature, mirroring details of past events to make the situation as real life as possible for all of those involved.
“However, on reflection we acknowledge that it was unacceptable to use this religious phrase immediately before the mock suicide bombing, which so vocally linked this exercise with Islam. We recognise and apologise for the offence that this has caused.”