As the nature of terror threats evolve, police capabilities here will also have to adapt and be nimble in dealing with these new challenges, terrorism experts said.

One pointed out that the Al-Qaeda style of attacking, for example, typically means making a big spectacle through massive bombings, and counter-terrorism teams have been trained to deal with that. However, the pattern is changing.

“Terrorists today use what we call the ‘urban swarming tactic’, where it could be just two guys shooting their targets and quickly moving from place to place. As the threats evolve, our security forces need to keep up as well,” Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said.