Police who staged a mock attack featuring a bomber shouting “Allahu Akbar” have apologised for racial stereotyping.
The BBC reports that the exercise – criticised for using a fake “Muslim terrorist” – was to test the response of emergency services.
Eight hundred volunteers took part in the overnight drill to make it as realistic as possible.
Greater Manchester Police said the event at the Trafford Centre was not linked to any specific terror threat.
In a statement released by GMP, assistant chief constable Garry Shewan said: “It is a necessity for agencies including the police to train and prepare using exercises such as this, so that we would be in the best possible position to respond in the event that the unthinkable happened and an attack took place.
“The scenario for this exercise is based on an 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.”
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
