British police apologise for shouting 'Allahu Akbar' during exercise

British police apologised on Tuesday after an officer shouted the Arabic phrase "Allahu Akbar" during a terror training exercise in a shopping centre in the northern English city of Manchester.

In video footage of the exercise broadcast on television, a masked man dressed in black could be seen running into the complex shouting the Arabic words, which translates to "God is great", before setting off a fake bomb and falling to the floor.

"On reflection, we acknowledge that it was unacceptable to use this religious phrase immediately before the mock suicide bombing, which so vocally linked this exercise with Islam," said Garry Shewan, a senior officer at the Greater Manchester Police.

In a statement, Shewan said the scenario had been based on "a suicide attack by an extremist Daesh-style organisation" – Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group [IS] – but added: "We recognise and apologise for the offence that this has caused."

The apology came after backlash on social media demanding an apology for the use of the Islamic phrase.

Tony Lloyd, mayor of Greater Manchester, said using the phrase was "ill-judged, unnecessary and unacceptable".

"It didn't add anything to the event, but has the potential to undermine the great community relations we have in Greater Manchester," he said.

Such an ill informed decision only stigmatises the Muslim community and contributes to rising Islamophobia in the UK

The Manchester Council of Mosques also condemned the use of the phrase: "Such an ill informed decision unfortunately only stigmatises the Muslim community and contributes to rising Islamophobia in the UK."

The role play exercise on the outskirts of Manchester involved 800 people, including actors made up to resemble gunshot victims with horrific injuries.

Police said there was no specific threat in Manchester and that the exercise was devised in December a month after the Paris attacks which killed 130 people and were claimed by IS militants.