Straits Times reports that Tokyo staged its biggest ever anti-terrorism exercise Friday in its bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
According to the newspaper sirens wailed as a thousand personnel drawn from the army, navy and coastguard, as well as police and rescue services, gave a “carefully orchestrated demonstration” of how they would deal with a nuclear “dirty” bomb explosion at a conference centre.
Police reportedly dropped from a helicopter and overpowered a group of men in balaclavas enveloped by a cloud of smoke from fake gunfire, while rescuers in protective gear and gas masks assessed a group of “victims”, and a navy ship stood by to evacuate the injured.
Rikiya Kondo, an army officer seconded to the Tokyo city government as director for crisis management, said “we wanted to prove that we are capable of dealing with whatever disaster should occur”, adding that he hoped the message would be heard around the world.
Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara issued a statement Friday saying, “when comparing the attractions of Tokyo with those of other major cities of the world, we can proudly say that a striking feature of Tokyo is its high level of security”.
