CBSNews.com
Elite British paratroopers have reportedly been deployed to the busy commercial streets and shopping centers of the United Kingdom to protect holiday shoppers from terrorist attacks.
The Sun, Britain's most widely-read newspaper, is a tabloid but is generally considered to have very reliable national security sources. Their Tuesday front-page article, which quotes unnamed officials, says troops from the SAS regiment (Special Air Services) have been deployed alongside police in London, Birmingham and other big cities.
According to The Sun, the SAS troops will be carrying semi-automatic assault rifles, pistols and stun grenades. The paper did not say how many members of the elite military regiment would be scattered about Britain's shopping centers.
The intention, according to the newspaper, is for the special forces to be on-hand in the event of a wide-scale attack by terrorists using bombs and or guns -- such as the rampage by a group of gunmen in the Indian city of Mumbai which left more than 100 people dead.
Britain has not raised its terror alert level as the holiday season ramps up, but groups like al Qaeda have previously tried to launch attacks around Christmas, and large crowds of shoppers around the U.K. undoubtedly make an attractive target to terror organizations.