BRITAIN’S special forces commanders have temporarily switched the main thrust of their attention from Iraq and Afghanistan to hunting down suspected terrorists at home.

A number of special forces teams are on an hour’s notice to move anywhere in the UK to support police operations against the terrorist threat.

The teams have a number of aircraft, including civilian helicopters and two small executive jets, assigned to them to ensure they can get anywhere in Britain as swiftly as possible.

“The UK is now at the top of our agenda and the two (terrorist) incidents will result in significant changes to our workload for the near future,” a senior defence source said.

Each of the rapid reaction teams includes a mix of SAS and Special Boat Service counter-terrorist experts, specialist human surveillance operatives and special forces bomb disposal officers.

They also include technical surveillance experts from a fifth special forces unit, 18th (UKSF) Signal Regiment, which was secretly created this year. The regiment is the third new special forces unit set up to support 22 SAS Regiment and the navy’s SBS in an expansion of Britain’s special forces to cope with the war on terror.

The new regiment includes soldiers who can monitor mobile and satellite phones and has a number of high-tech methods of listening in to conversations from up to half a mile away.

The Sunday Times revealed last week that special forces intelligence personnel were part of the surveillance operation that resulted in the shooting of an innocent Brazilian.

SAS troops also played a role in the capture nine days ago of three men suspected of taking part in the failed July 21 bomb attacks. The soldiers provided expertise in explosive entry techniques to back up raids by police firearms officers.

The extent of the involvement by special forces and the scope of their capabilities have remained secret until now. “Our people are carrying out what I can only describe as a vital role within the current operation,” one source said. “It is complex and spread across a large part of the UK. The team includes aspects of the new units assigned to UKSF (UK special forces) within the past year.”

Part of this role is understood to involve special forces merging into the background in London and other British cities. Plainclothes SAS teams have also monitored airports and main railway stations to identify any security weaknesses.

Members of the SBS have worked alongside Home Office officials on exercises at key ports to try to spot security problems. One exercise scenario involved suicide bombers hijacking an oil tanker which they aimed to blow up in a port.

However, defence sources said that although the elite military teams are under the overall control of the director of special forces, any counter-terror operations will remain under the authority of the police.

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