Century of Jihad Read Free

Young medics and nursing staff, some not long out of training, found the numbers and extent of the injuries overwhelming at times and had to be supported in their lifesaving endeavours by older, more experienced team members. There were individuals suffering from shock and lacerations and those with severe head, chest, stomach and limb injuries, all needing different levels of attention from the dedicated carers in whose hands the victims’ very lives now depended.
    Many heroes emerged that day – in the emergency services, in the hospitals and amongst the general population. What none could have dreamt, however, was that in the weeks and months to come even greater horror lay ahead.

C HAPTER 2
    The investigation began with the assembling of the usual teams to be found in the aftermath of any major incident of this kind– Accident Investigators, Police Detectives, Police Photographers, Scene of Crime Officers, Forensics Officers. However, it was quickly established from evidence at the scene, and from interviews with survivors, that this was an incident involving an explosion. Into the mix, therefore, came Counter Terrorism Officers from the Metropolitan Police and their colleagues from the Security Service, often referred to as MI5.
    The man now in overall charge of what had become an investigation into a suspected terrorist outrage, was Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) George Braithwaite, Head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command (SO15). SO15 had been set up as a unified command structure to better combat the new wave of global inspired terrorism. It replaced the old Metropolitan Police Special Branch and Terrorism Branch. The DAC in charge of SO15 was also the National Co-ordinator for Terrorism Investigations.
    DAC Braithwaite visited the emergency services’ Forward Operations Base at Regent’s Park Underground Station soon after the explosion. The media were present in abundance as he arrived at the police cordon, which was blocking access roads around the station. He determined to make every effort to avoid them.
    ‘I won’t be speaking to the news hounds just yet, Ian. Go straight to the station Entrance,’ the dour Scot instructed his driver.
    By the time of his arrival the rescue operation was well underway. The station, surrounding streets and nearby Regent’s Park were a hive of activity. In the air was the clatter of the rotor blades of police helicopters and those of the London air ambulance, which were utilising Marylebone Green at Regent’s Park as a landing pad. Regent’s Park, situated just across Marylebone Road from the station entrance and no more than a couple of minutes by ambulance from the scene of the incident, was being used to evacuate by air the worst of the casualties, to allow prompt treatment and avoid any delay which may have been incurred in the congested traffic.
    Marylebone Road was backed up onto the A40(M) with traffic and the other roads in the busy West End were also gridlocked. All London Underground train services were stopped and the stations closed. Emergency service vehicles were coming and going from the scene all the time, ferrying casualties to hospitals throughout London and bringing in more teams to bolster the rescue effort and investigation. The numbers of the emergency medical personnel in attendance were swelled by doctors attending a conference at the nearby headquarters of the Royal College of Physicians, located at Regent’s Park. These doctors, along with other medics and nurses from private hospitals and clinics nearby, including the world famous Harley Street, made an invaluable contribution to the lifesaving effort in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
    DAC Braithwaite was keen to establish some clarity for himself. Speaking with senior police officers, forensics investigators and other participants in the ongoing rescue effort, he caught up with events, enabling him to set out the immediate priorities and direction of the