categoria: coltello
Il RAF survival knife è stato dotazione SAS
The SAS Regiment and the Iranian
Embassy Siege
Il 30 Aprile del 1980, l’ambasciata
iraniana a Princes Gate, Kensinghton, venne occupata da un gruppo di sei
terroristi appartenenti al Fronte Rivoluzionario e Democratico per la
Liberazione dell’Arabistan che presero in ostaggio 26 persone, chiedendo in
cambio la liberazione di alcuni loro compagni detenuti in Iran.
Dopo l’uccisione dell’addetto
stampa da parte dei terroristi il Primo Ministro Margaret Thatcher decise di
inviare sul posto il 22º Reggimento SAS.
Il 5 Maggio, nell’operazione denominata
Nimrod, due squadre, la Rossa e la Blu, atterrarono sul tetto dell’ambasciata:
otto uomini si calarono con le corde sul retro dell’edificio, mentre quattro
uomini attaccarono la facciata, utilizzando esplosivi e gas lacrimogeni.
Penetrati nell’ambasciata, gli
uomini in tuta nera, ripresi in diretta televisiva dalla BBC, scoprirono che i
terroristi avevano cosparso edificio di cherosene.
Un ostaggio fu ucciso durante la
sparatoria, ma gli uomini dello Special Air Service, armati di pistole
mitragliatrici MP5 e di granate stordenti, riuscirono ad uccidere cinque
terroristi, mentre l’ultimo venne catturato e consegnato alla polizia dopo l’assedio,
durato circa 17 minuti. Alla fine, i 24 ostaggi superstiti riuscirono ad
evacuare l’edificio avvolto dalle fiamme.
Five years after Prime Minister
Edward Heath ordered formation of the special projects team, the anti-hijacking
and counter-terrorism wing of the SAS Regiment played the key role in the
outcome of the Iranian Embassy Siege.
On 30 April 1980, six gunmen from
the Democratic Revolutionary Front for Liberation of Arabistan (DRFLA) stormed
the Iranian Embassy in London and took 26 people as hostages. Most of the
hostages were embassy staff but a few visitors and a police officer who had
been guarding the Iranian Embassy were also held by six members of the DRFLA
that was fighting for autonomy of the Khuzestan Province in Iran.
The terrorists demanded release
of Arab prisoners from jails in the Khuzestan Province and a guarantee that
they will be enabled a safe passage out of the United Kingdom. The British
government, however, refused to grant a safe passage to the hostage-takers and
as a result, the siege continued. Meanwhile, the police negotiated with the
terrorists and managed to convince them to release five hostages in return for
minor concessions such as broadcasting of their demands by the British media.
However, the terrorists eventually became frustrated for failing to reach their
objectives and on the evening of the sixth day, they killed one hostage and
threw his body out of the building of the embassy. The British government
reacted by ordering the SAS Regiment to storm the embassy and rescue the
hostages.
Within less than one hour after
the killed hostage was thrown from the embassy, two groups of 30 to 35 soldiers
from the SAS Regiment abseiled from the roof of the embassy building and forced
their entry through the windows. The SAS Regiment action lasted only 17 minutes
during which they killed five out of six terrorists. Unfortunately, the
terrorists killed one and seriously wounded two hostages during the action but
the SAS Regiment managed to rescue 24 from the remaining 25 hostages as well as
to capture the surviving terrorist (he was later prosecuted in the court and
sentenced to 27 years in jail). The soldiers of the SAS Regiment were
afterwards accused that they unnecessarily killed two of the gunmen, however,
they were cleared of any wrongdoing following an investigation of the deaths.
The SAS Regiment’s reputation
increased dramatically after the action during the Iranian Embassy Siege and
the Regiment received an enormous amount of applications by people who were
impressed by the action with the codename Operation Nimrod. The SAS Regiment’s
service thereafter also became increasingly sought after by foreign
governments.
The Iranian government evaluated
the outcome of the siege as successful and expressed gratitude to the British
government for its reaction to the siege. The embassy building which suffered a
serious damage due to a fire that broke out during the hostage rescue action,
however, was reopened only in 1993.
(sito internet del SAS)
Gli uomini in tuta nera del SAS tenevano fissato al petto, cucito sulla tuta da combattimento, il RAF survival knife.
