Police apologise for using 'Allahu akbar' in terror-training exercise
Manchester force says it was 'unacceptable' to use Islamic phrase – but many defended the scenario as realistic

Greater Manchester Police has apologised for a training exercise in which an actor playing a terrorist repeatedly shouted "Allahu akbar", meaning "God is great" in Arabic.
Emergency service personnel and volunteers were taking part in a simulated terrorist attack on a Manchester shopping centre. An actor playing a suicide bomber shouted the phrase four times before supposedly blowing himself up.
As video footage of the operation went public, the backlash to the use of the phrase was immediate, with GP and columnist Siema Iqbal tweeting the force to demand an explanation for their choice of words.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Muslims and non-Muslims alike rallied to her protest, criticising the force for appearing to single out an already victimised minority and for potentially harming community relations.
Writing in The Independent, former counter-terrorist officer Kevin Maxwell asked: "Did the fake bomber shouting 'Allahu Akbar' actually add anything to the training event?" No, he argued. "All that happened was that a minority group society now routinely sees as the enemy was put under the spotlight again."
However, others argued that use of the phrase was justified given that Islamic extremism is currently the face of global terror.
Greater Manchester Police said the exercise had been intended to mimic a suicide attack by an "extremist Daesh-style organisation" and organisers had tried to include as many real-life details as possible from recent terror attacks.
However, Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan apologised on behalf of the force for including the phrase.
"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," he said in a statement. "We recognise and apologise for the offence that this has caused."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Mountainhead: Jesse Armstrong's tech bro satire sparkles with 'weapons-grade zingers'
The Week Recommends The Succession creator's first feature film lacks the hit TV show's 'dramatic richness' – but makes for a horribly gripping watch
-
Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists – a 'riveting' exhibition
The Week Recommends Pallant House exhibition offers fascinating instances of painterly reciprocity
-
Geoff Dyer shares his favourite books on war
The Week Recommends Out of Sheer Rage author chooses works by Martha Gellhorn, Michael Herr and Dexter Filkins
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Suspect charged after 11 die in Vancouver car attack
Speed Read Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an SUV into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival
-
How should we define extremism and terrorism?
Today's Big Question The government has faced calls to expand the definition of terrorism in the wake of Southport murders
-
Axel Rudakubana: how much did the authorities know about Southport killer?
Today's Big Question Nigel Farage accuses PM of a cover-up as release of new details raises 'very serious questions for the state about how it failed to intervene before tragedy struck'
-
Terror on wheels: the history of vehicle-ramming attacks
The Explainer Cars and lorries have now become 'the jihadist's weapon of choice' but they've been a mass-killing weapon for years
-
DOJ charges 2 in white nationalist 'Terrorgram' plot
Feds say Dallas Humber and Matthew Allison were plotting assassinations through a terrorist network on Telegram
-
The Red Army Faction: German fugitive arrested after decades on run
In the Spotlight Police reward and TV appeal leads to capture of Daniela Klette, now 65
-
Attacking the grid
Speed Read Domestic terrorism targeting the U.S. electric grid is exposing dangerous vulnerabilities