UK forces launch operation to counter ISIS attack on Euro 2016 games: Report

LONDON: British special forces have launched a multi-national counter-terrorist operation as it emerged that Islamic State (ISIS) militants are planning "a summer of carnage" in London and other cities during the Euro 2016 football championship, according to a media report today.

Operation Storm Tide 3 took place at Ostend in Belgium, ahead of the UEFA football tournament that kicks off on Friday in Paris, 'Sunday Express' reported.

"This exercise was focused on preparing and rehearsing our response to an attack in respect of the pending Euro championships. The Euro 2016 games have been flagged up as potential targets for Islamic State," a military source told the newspaper.

A ministry of defence (MoD) spokesperson said the operation was "tailored to take into account recent events in Paris and Brussels".

Soldiers from 40 Commando and troops and special forces from Belgium and Holland stormed a shopping centre and "eliminated" a group of soldiers playing the part of extremists threatening to blow up the building as part of the training exercises.

Planned by Nato and approved by UK defence secretary Michael Fallon, the operation involving more than 800 troops is one of several set to take place across Europe this summer.

Intelligence chiefs fear militants are planning "a summer of carnage" after retrieving data from the laptops and mobile phones of terror suspects Mohamed Abrini and Salah Abdeslam.

Abrini is believed to be the "man in the hat" linked to the Brussels bombings in March which killed 32 people.

He and Abdeslam are accused of being involved in last year's Paris atrocity, in which 130 people died.

American intelligence believes Paris, Cologne and Moscow could be targeted during the tournament. They fear an attack on London is being primed to coincide with an England game.

The news comes after the US warned its citizens on Tuesday of possible terrorist attacks in Europe.