Westfield guards against "Mumbai" attack

The Sun, never known to sensationalise, reported a heightened security presence in and around the Westfield shopping centre this festive season, to guard against the possibility of a terrorist attack along the same lines as the Mumbai atrocity in India two years ago which took the lives of over 170 people.

Ignoring the pumped up language and sensitive image of a shopping centre with a crosshairs superimposed on it the newspaper does raise a valid concern. The fact is if you were a terrorist group looking for a soft target you would have to think that a centre like Westfield would be somewhere in the top half of the list of places to attack.

So it's as well that our security forces, the serious ones not the jokers who pick on protesting librarians, are onto the threat and no doubt taking measures to ensure people's safety. The problems is they can't guarantee it - so if you are venturing in there to do the christmas shopping, do keep an eye out and report anything suspicious.