Letter bomb probe

[Pinky 1]

Letter bomb probe: More packages sent to army careers offices :
Four suspect packages have been delivered to army careers offices in the South East of England, counter-terrorism police said.
Bomb disposal units were called to armed forces recruitment centres in Oxford, Slough, Kent and Brighton.
The latest deliveries come after letter bombs arrived at offices in Hampshire, Kent and Berkshire this week.
David Cameron has chaired a meeting of the Cobra emergencies committee to discuss the threat.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it was aware of "security incidents" and army staff were warned to be "extra vigilant".

Det Supt Stan Gilmore, of the South East counter-terrorism unit, said the packages found on Thursday would be sent for examination.
"Even if the contents are determined to be a viable device they pose a very low-level threat and are unlikely to cause significant harm or damage," he said.
Packages were found at offices in St Giles, Oxford, the Queensmere Shopping Centre in Slough, St Peter's Street in Canterbury and Queens Road, Brighton.

BBC Kent's Clare Tiptaft said people had been moved from neighbouring properties in Canterbury.
On Wednesday officers said they believed letter bombs sent earlier in the week to careers offices in Chatham and Reading were linked.
A device was also found at the office on Hospital Hill, Aldershot.
The packages received on Tuesday were forensically examined after being made safe.
Police in Reading described the bomb found at St Mary's Butts as a "small but viable explosive device".
An MoD spokesman said: "Security advice has been reiterated to our personnel."

[Pinky 1]

No. 107/14

Ref C4/14

Date: 14 February 2014

To: All Branches

Dear Colleagues,

SUSPECT POSTAL PACKAGES: IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES (IEDs) - SENT TO BRITISH ARMY CAREERS & RECRUITMENT OFFICES:

Branches will be aware from media reports yesterday of the recent spate of suspect postal packets containing improvised explosive devices (IED's) which have been arriving at UK army careers/recruitment offices in the South East of England.

British counter-terrorism Police units and local Police forces with the support of military explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams are investigating a series of suspect packages found at seven armed forces careers/recruitment offices in the South East which have arrived in recent days. It is believed that all seven items were processed and delivered by Royal Mail, having gone through the system without being recognised or detected. The packages have been found at the Army careers/recruitment offices in Aldershot, Brighton, Canterbury, Chatham, Oxford, Reading and Slough from Tuesday onwards. Bomb disposal units were called in to deal with the packages, sent to the seven offices in the South East of England. The Police invoked precautionary evacuations and cordons were placed close to all the offices where packages were found until declared safe and removed.

The Police sent out communications on Wednesday with guidance issued to staff at all military establishments and all army careers offices, asking that staff be extra vigilant and look out for any suspect packages. Screening procedures for mail to armed forces careers offices are also being reviewed. The national threat level remains under constant review also.

The Health, Safety & Environment Department has been liaising closely with the Royal Mail Group Security Directors team and Secretary of the Royal Mail Group CBRNE Committee. Royal Mail Security have been working closely with the various local Police forces dealing with the individual incidents, the Police National CBRNE Centre and a National Police Counter-Terrorism Co-ordination team.

The Police have described the devices as small "crude", "low-level" but "viable" threat devices. We have been assured that although the devices, sent so far, were viable, they were crude and basic, making them unlikely to cause serious injury and pose little danger to Postal workers. They may catch fire but would not explode.

The situation is being monitored carefully and a briefing was issued by Royal Mail Group Security last night 13th February, following up Infoflash messages sent out on 11th and 12th February. It has been communicated to key Personnel throughout the Business via the usual channels as well as being placed on the Intranet. There have been no further suspect packages reported as arriving today but further items cannot be ruled out as a pattern has clearly developed and could well continue.

Although enquiries in relation to each incident are still ongoing, the Police are now linking all seven incidents. Further to that the Prime Minister called a meeting of the Government's 'Cobra' committee to discuss the seven suspect packages and a Government spokesperson said that the packages bore "all the hallmarks of Northern Ireland-related terrorism". While the motive behind the campaign remains unknown and no one has yet claimed responsibility, letter bombs have been used by dissident renegade terrorist groups previously and there were a couple of similar incidents late last year in Northern Ireland, sent to various high profile people. Royal Mail Group Security will continue to work with the Police to support their enquiries and investigations. There is no current information to suggest that Royal Mail Group or Post Office Ltd or their staff are a direct target.

There are 74 Army Careers Offices throughout the UK.

Of the 11 Army Careers, Recruitment Offices in the South East Region: Aldershot (GU11), Brighton (BN1), Canterbury (CT1), Chatham (ME4), Crawley (RH10), Milton Keynes (MK9), Oxford (OX1), Portsmouth (PO1), Reading (RG1), Slough (SL1) and Southampton (SO14) - 7 have received IED Suspect Packages from the same source. These are; Aldershot, Brighton, Canterbury, Chatham, Oxford, Reading and Slough.

Other Army Careers Offices are located in the following places based on the Army/MOD Regional structure:

South West: Bournemouth, Bristol, Exeter, Gloucester, Plymouth, Redruth, Salisbury, Swindon, Taunton.

London: London WC1 and London SW1.

Anglia: Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, Luton, Norwich, Peterborough.

Wales: Bangor, Cardiff, Newport, Swansea, Wrexham.

West Midlands: Birmingham, Coventry, Hereford, Stoke, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Worcester.

East Midlands: Derby, Grimsby, Leicester, Lincoln, Mansfield, Northampton, Nottingham.

North West: Bolton, Carlisle, Chester, Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Stockport.

North East: Bradford, Doncaster, Hull (2), Leeds, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Sheffield, Sunderland.

Northern Ireland: Colerain, Enniskillen, Belfast, Portadown.

Scotland: Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness.

The Police and Royal Mail Security are asking all staff to be extra vigilant and to look out for any suspect packages. The CWU Health, Safety & Environment Department fully supports that message and asks that all Representatives raise awareness and spread the word amongst members to look out for similar packages, using the nationally agreed "Be Aware" Guidelines if a suspect package is found. Police have not released photographs of the items as yet but they are described as follows:-

Contained in a Brown self-sealing C5 jiffy bag
Bearing one or two 60 cent Republic of Ireland (AnPost) postage stamp and cancellation mark
The address was handwritten in block capital letters in blue or black ink
The items have now been verified as "Crude but viable" Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
All items to date have been delivered to Army Careers offices so can you please note the above list of locations and ensure that an effective message is delivered to members of staff in your offices who may handle such mail emphasising the need to follow the "Be Aware" guidelines and report all incidents to management who will report to Central Postal Control (CPC).

The main message at the moment is to remain alert, vigilant and follow the guidelines detailed in the "Be Aware" Managers Guide to Dealing with Suspect Packages (copy attached).

The CWU condemns the sending of Letter and Parcel Bombs through the Postal system by any organisation or individual, putting innocent workers and members of the public at risk. We appeal to those responsible to desist from sending further devices.

The Health, Safety & Environment Department will continue to keep you advised and informed of any further developments.

Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer

More info +

BEAWAR~1.pdf

[Lounge Lizard]

"There are 74 Army Careers Offices throughout the UK." - yet another waste of money by the Ministry of Defence, oblivious to the internet and other more modern methods of applying for a job.

[UnhappyGremlin]

"There are 74 Army Careers Offices throughout the UK." - yet another waste of money by the Ministry of Defence, oblivious to the internet and other more modern methods of applying for a job.

There used to be a hell of a lot more.
They closed loads in the last few years. Including the one where I am.
They tend now to be in higher populated areas only, like Cities.