Beijing holds drill for Mumbai-style attack

Dec 14, 2008, 7:41 GMT

Beijing - Police in Beijing held a drill on Saturday for a terrorist attack similar to the one last month in Mumbai, state media said Sunday.

The drill followed a scenario that terrorists had 'rocked the city with a series of explosions and kidnapped hostages' at an international hotel used for the exercise, the government's official Xinhua news agency said.

The Chinese capital held the drill to 'boost its response capabilities against Mumbai-style militant attacks,' the agency said.

The agency showed photographs of the Beijing Special Armed Police Unit using a helicopter and abseiling ropes to drop commandos into the hotel and rescue hostages.

'The drill was aimed at preventing terrorist attacks, especially after the Mumbai attack which had definite targets and a careful plan,' Xiao Yong, the head of the special forces unit, was quoted as saying.

'We noticed that the terrorists attacked different sites in the city (Mumbai) in different ways such as explosions, shooting, kidnapping and a gunfight with the police,' Xiao said

'We have done thorough research on different kinds of attacks and made a complete and cohesive counter-terrorism plan,' he said.

The special forces members receive comprehensive training and are each given weapons and equipment costing more than 300,000 yuan (44,000 dollars), the agency said.

The Chinese government reported several attacks on police by alleged terrorists in its far western region of Xinjiang in the run-up to this year's Beijing Olympics, and claimed that some captured suspects had confessed to plotting attacks in Beijing during the games.