Missile Fired at MI6 HQ in London
L O N D O N, Sept. 21 -- A small missile struck the headquarters of Britain’s MI6 spy headquarters late Wednesday, police said.
Alan Fry, head of the police department’s anti-terrorist branch, said the missile had hit the eighth floor of the high-security building, made famous in James Bond movies, but had caused only minimal damage and no injuries.
Some witnesses reported hearing two explosions, large enough to send up a plume of white smoke and to rattle buildings across a railway. The blast brought firefighters, police and ambulances to the site on the south bank of the River Thames.
But Fry said business was going on as usual inside the building throughout the night.
Roads, Chunnel Shut Down
Police sealed roads around the area and closed Vauxhall Bridge, causing traffic jams in the city center. Eurostar rail service between London and Paris through the “chunnel” was also suspended as police investigate the incident. Most service was expected to resume later today.
“We all need to be vigilant. We have a general threat of terrorism in London,” said Fry.
There was no warning, Fry said, and no claims of responsibility have been made yet for the blast, which rocked central London at about 10 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
IRA Splinter Group?
“Clearly I have to keep in mind the capability of dissident Irish groups, but at this stage I would not be ruling out any other group who might see the secret intelligence service as a potential target,” he said.
He added: “The sheer nature of work of the secret intelligence service must mean that there are other terrorist groups throughout the world who might see their premises as a potential target.”
But Fry said he doubted the projectile was a mortar shell.
“In all probability I would doubt it is a mortar — I would have expected more substantial damage,” he said.
Suspicion the attack could be the work of an IRA splinter group is bolstered by similarities to a 1991 attack on Downing Street. The IRA fired a mortar at the official residence of the prime minister during a Gulf War Cabinet meeting, presided over by John Major.
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