Airport a High-profile Target for Terrorists, Says PM Lee

The Straits Times

18 October 2017

Changi Airport is a “high-profile target” for terrorists, and it is crucial that security forces here are prepared to react to an attack there, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

He added that they would have to do so in a way that will neutralise the attackers decisively, while minimising casualties. He made the remarks after observing a counter-terrorism drill at the airport, held as part of ongoing efforts to hone the multi-agency response to terror threats.

Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said drills like these were the closest security agencies could get to an actual attack, and will help to expose gaps that might not be apparent in meetings held to simulate emergencies, known as table-top exercises.

“If units exercise often enough, in a time of real crisis, they will already have a certain level of familiarity,” he said.

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