Forest Gate Raid

This article is part of the Counter-Terrorism Portal project of Spinwatch.

The Forest Gate Raid was a counter-terrorism operation that was conducted at a house in Forest Gate at 4am on 2 June 2006 on suspicion that a “chemical weapon” was being produced by two brothers – Abdul Kahar Kalam, who was shot by police during the raid, and his brother, Abdul Koyair. Security Sources stated that the operation was based on intelligence that indicated a “viable” chemical device was present at the house that had the potential of producing casualties “in double or even triple figures”. This was the official reason for the operation.

No chemical weapon was ever found and both men were released without any charges being brought against them.

The Raid

The raid was carried out by approximately 250-300 police officers, including armed police officers. They were backed up by fire-fighters, health officials and biochemical experts from the MoD biological warfare research centre at Porton Down. Porton Down Members swept the house and ensured it was safe from any chemical or biological dangers.

Whilst the raid and investigation was ongoing, an air exclusion zone was imposed around the scene, which banned aircraft flying below 2,500 feet above the site of the site - the house of the two brothers. However, local residents were not evacuated form their homes becuase, as the BBC reported, "the threat of explosions was not deemed serious enough or [the] police did not want to alert the suspects".

Intelligence

Deputy Assisstant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service and commander of the Anti-Terrorist Command (SO15), Peter Clarke, stated that the operation was based on “specific intelligence”.