Anti-terror training exercise Q&A: Where's it happening, will I be affected and why now?

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Scotland Yard is conducting Britain's biggest counter-terrorism exercise as officers take to the streets of London to prepare for a "marauding terrorist attack".

Why?

David Cameron said the exercise had been planned following the terrorist attack at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in January, when Paris was gripped by three days of horror as gunmen went on the loose.

The training exercise has been planned for months but last week's massacre by an Islamic extremist on a beach resort in Tunisia, which left about 30 British holidaymakers dead, has reiterated the threat that these random, "marauding" types of terror attacks pose to the UK.

It will take place over two days - Tuesday 30 June and Wednesday 1 July.

What kind of attack will the exercise simulate?

The most recent examples of the type of attack that will be simulated are the Charlie Hebdo and Sousse atrocities, but the kind of shopping mall attack seen in the 2008 massacre in Mumbai is one that the authorities will be training for too.

Where?

The exercise will be conducted at various locations in London - the authorities have refused to give any more details. Only a handful of specialist officers in Scotland Yard will know the precise details of what the simulated attack involves.

Who is involved?

More than 1,000 officers - many of whom will be armed - will take part. They will be testing how Scotland Yard, the intelligence and emergency services respond if a "marauding" attack unfolded on the streets of London.

The Ministry of Defence, the capital's hospitals and transport network will also be tested in the exercise.

There will be 130 counter-terrorism specialist firearms officers, who make up the elite unit of the operation. They will be armed with new weapons and new tactics, such as fast-roping from helicopters and storming buildings to rescue hostages.

The government's Cobra emergency committee will also take part in the exercise.

Will I be affected?

Downing Street said Londoners and tourists will not be affected or disturbed by the exercise but said the public would be aware of the training exercise as it unfolds across several locations in the capital.

The government wants to ensure as many people were aware of the exercise going ahead as possible and the Met has told the public not to be concerned by what they may see. "Elements of it will be noisy and it will be visible in places and really important we get a message out of reassurance," said Maxine de Brunner, the deputy assistant police commissioner.

“Officers will have to respond on how they find it on the day. They don't know what will be happening and we will be testing things which we haven't tested before."

Normal policing levels across London will be unaffected by the exercise, the Met said.

How is the operation being referred to?

The Metropolitan police is calling it Exercise Strong Tower.

What are the Met Police saying about the exercise?

Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Maxine de Brunner said: “This exercise is focused in the extreme end of what might happen.

“I would just like to stress to you all, it is not being carried out in response to any specific intelligence.

“We have been planning this since January so it is completely not related to anything that may be going on at this time.

“We have been planning this for many months and as it is a live play exercise some of our activity will be highly visible and audible to the public.

“We want to test ourselves. This isn't about how to look good or do well. I expect there will be a lot for us to learn from this. We will test our firearms capability across a range of our units.

“Sadly London is no stranger to terrorism and we, alongside out colleagues have to deal with the tragic events of July 2005.

“From our point of view of the Met police we haven't put together an exercise of this magnitude before. It is the largest exercise in London that we have planned.

“We want to see and ensure that our capacity and skills can match whatever we think a terrorist group may do.”

"Exercising is a vital part of our preparedness to respond to any major incident in London. It helps us to ensure that we and all our partners are ready as we can before whatever might happen.

“We put a huge amount of effort into our planning and the exercise it to test out assumptions and how a large number of agencies all work together.”