Hong Kong disciplined services take part in a counterterrorism exercise conducted by Hong Kong's Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit at Lok Ma Chau Spur Line control point in Hong Kong, March 20, 2020. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - The Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit (ICTU) on Friday conducted a counterterrorism exercise at Lok Ma Chau Spur Line control point. The exercise, code name "CATCHMOUNT", simulated an operation against extremists who plotted a bomb attack at a boundary control point in Hong Kong using improvised explosive devices (IED). More than 250 officers from the Hong Kong Police Force, Fire Services Department, Customs and Excise Department and Immigration Department took part in the exercise.

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Through this exercise, police aimed to heighten public vigilance and awareness of suspicious objects, as a number of recent cases involving IEDs were detected.

A bomb disposal officer operates a bomb disposal robot during a counterterrorism exercise conducted by Hong Kong's Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit at Lok Ma Chau Spur Line control point in Hong Kong, March 20, 2020. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

A bomb disposal robot defuses a bomb during a counterterrorism exercise conducted by Hong Kong's Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit at Lok Ma Chau Spur Line control point in Hong Kong, March 20, 2020. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Firefighters attend to the wounded and put out a fire during a counterterrorism exercise conducted by Hong Kong's Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit at the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line control point in Hong Kong, March 20, 2020. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)