A Terrorist Abduction of Tampa's Mayor? That's What Special Ops Practiced in FL This Week

For two afternoons now, those in the City of Tampa are hearing explosions. They're seeing military aircraft case the area around downtown buildings. But they shouldn't be alarmed. These events are part of a drill to enact how special operations teams would perform in the event of terrorists abducting the city's mayor.

Tampa Bay Online reported yesterday that this drill was one of two to test the response to special ops teams. Here is some of what occurred Tuesday afternoon:

The operation began Tuesday afternoon in the harbor outside Tampa General Hospital, as the forces practiced taking out a mock enemy outpost. The assault by land, sea and air included a CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, a Chinook helicopter, Zodiac boats, ground-mobility vehicles and rigid-hull inflatable boats like those used by Navy SEALs.

Watch Tuesday's news report:

The fake scenario in which terrorists kidnapped Mayor Bob Buckhorn continued Wednesday with what Tampa Bay Online describes as "full-throttle with pyrotechnics and blank ammo." It reported that crowds were gathering this afternoon to watch the display.

The scene as a whole is part of the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference occurring in the  Florida city. The teams included nine countries -- Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Jordan, Norway, Poland, Thailand and United Arab Emirates.

The other drill taking place was to test responders in a mock hurricane situation during a time when a large volume of visitors are in the city. It uses the upcoming Republican National Convention as an example.

Check out more photos from the drill here.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

[H/T Blaze reader Susan H.]