The Civil Guard carried out a simulated terrorist attack last Friday morning in the area around the Virgen de la Vega hermitage, located on the outskirts of the Avila town of Piedrahíta (1,700 inhabitants), as a result of level 4 risk. .
This drill, known this Monday, began at 11:00 a.m., without prior notice to the affected units, with the objective of "evaluating the response times of the Ávila Command in the face of a particularly serious situation," he explained in a press release. the armed institute.
It was about putting into practice the simulation of a possible terrorist attack, as a consequence of "the validity of risk level 4", to "manage a large crisis and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions carried out, together with the immediate response of the various units of the Command in the face of this type of threats".
Once the "terrorist nature" of the alert was confirmed, the "activation and application" of the action plan was declared, in which the Complex Operational Center (COC) mobilized and activated the Civil Guard patrols available at that time, as well as the specialist units of the Command.
They were the Information Service, Explosives Deactivation Team (EBYL), Citizen Security Unit, Mountain Rescue and Intervention Group (GREIM) and Organic Unit of the Judicial Police (UOPJ), communicating the alert to Emergency Service 112 of Castilla y León.
Within the operation deployed in the area, the Crisis Room was established as an information point and direct link with the General Directorate of the Civil Guard, the Government Subdelegation in Ávila and with subordinate units.
Once in the area and after adopting self-protection measures, citizen security was guaranteed, access to the affected areas was regulated and controlled, along with the security perimeters, and the Command Closure Plan was activated, with the bordering provinces.
The purpose of this type of exercises is to "strengthen the action protocols in the face of this type of emergency, appreciate the difficulties and possible improvements in action and establish corrective measures, to improve the action patterns of the Security Forces and Corps in the face of this and other types of threats.
Citizen Security units from the province of Ávila and the Traffic Detachment participated in the drill, among others from the Command, the Government Subdelegation and the 112 Emergency Service.
In this practice it has been possible to verify "the capabilities that the Command has in the management of major crises, adjusting to the reality of immediacy, by activating the alert of the practical drill without prior notice", in order to "evaluate the response times and activation of the various units".
