Singapore a Target for IS Attacks: Expert

Business Standard (India)

29 May 2015

The dreaded Islamic State terror outfit has identified Singapore, along with the US and the Philippines, as a possible target for its attacks, a noted expert said here today.

Islamic State (IS) supporters from the region have also cited the Philippines and the US as targets, Jasminder Singh, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies analyst who has compiled a report on the threat, told The Straits Times.

The development comes as Malaysia last month nabbed a cell with explosives targeting Putrajaya (the country’s capital city) and the federal Parliament.

Singapore’s Home Affairs Ministry on Wednesday also announced the detention of a 19-year-old student who had made plans to join the terror in Syria and carry out attacks here.

… The unit poses a severe threat to Singapore and South-east Asia, said Professor Rohan Gunaratna, who heads Singapore’s International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.

“It has multiple functions: to train people capable of carrying out attacks in Iraq and Syria, to instigate South-east Asians to mount attacks in their home countries, and to radicalise South-east Asians online, recruit them and physically facilitate their entry into Iraq and Syria,” Rohan said.

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