Singapore was Aware of Terror Cell: Shanmugam

The Straits Times

06 August 2016

Singapore was aware of the group of militants based in Batam who were planning to attack Marina Bay, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday.

The news that such a plot was being hatched so close to Singapore’s borders was no surprise, he added in reply to media queries after the Indonesian police arrested six members of the militant cell in Batam.

Mr Shanmugam had, in recent months, raised concerns about terrorists targeting Singapore from abroad, and who could try to enter the country or locate themselves just outside the country.

… Security analysts like Mr Jasminder Singh of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research said the arrests are a reminder of the need to stay vigilant in the face of the terror threat.

Mr Singh said that while the actual risk of a successful rocket attack on Marina Bay is debatable, the threat of terrorism remains real given Singapore’s strong stance against terrorism and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.

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