Based in Hereford, the SRR is a British Army unit involved in surveillance operations, particularly against those suspected of engaging in terrorism and other threats to national security and stability. This is the newest Special Forces Regiment in the British Army, created by then Secretary of State for DefenceGeoff Hoon. Announced in 2004, it was formed in response to a need for greater 'force against terrorism'. Unlike some other areas of the British Army, it recruits members of both genders. Its cap badge consists of the sword seen in the SAS and SBS badges, point up, behind a Corinthian helmet and a scroll inscribed RECONNAISSANCE.
Few details are publicly available, but it is believed that the unit is less than half the size of the SAS, and that it is in effect the latest incarnation of 14 Intelligence Company (a.k.a. the Joint Communications Unit (Northern Ireland) (JCU(NI)) that has performed a similar role against Irish Republican and Loyalist terrorism in Northern Ireland since the 1970s. The Regiment's primary purpose is to free the SAS and SBS from surveillance duties and allow them to engage in the "hard end" of missions.
On 4 August 2005, The Guardian [reported] that the Special Reconnaissance Regiment were involved in the surveillance operation that led to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes in the wake of the 7 July London bombings. The Whitehall sources who provided the story stressed that the SRR were involved only in intelligence-gathering, and that Mr Menezes was shot by armed police, not by members of the SRR or other soldiers.
Defence sources refused to comment on speculation that SRR soldiers were among the plain-clothes officers who followed Mr Menezes on to the bus to Stockwelltube station.
Iraq arrests
On 19 September 2005, The Scotsman [reported] that two Special Reconnaissance Regiment operatives caught by Iraqi police in Basra were dressed as local Arabs and engaged in a gunfight with Basra Police, killing two Iraqi Police officers. The two British men reportedly had a large collection of weapons and bomb-making equipment.
British forces destroyed the Basra central jail in a rescue attempt that led to riots. The SRR operatives were later reportedly taken from a house in Basra. Iraq's government expressed outrage.
