Counter-terrorism in Singapore is a series of detection and prevention measures to minimize the damage caused by terrorism. These measures involve the participation of all levels of society, includingdefence,internal security, border and infrastructure security, civil defense, and gives special focus on areas such as medical readiness and psychological preparedness.
Singapore's main counter-terrorism strategy includes cooperation with regional and international partners to achieve a transnational landscape of security. Singapore is instrumental in the passage of international initiatives such as the landmarkUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 which established the legal basis for international action against terrorism.[1] It is also at the forefront of theSoutheast Asian counter-terrorism efforts[2] and aUnited States partner in theProliferation Security Initiative (PSI) that aims to combat the illicit trade and spread of weapons of mass destruction.[3]
In recent years,[when?] Singapore's counter-terrorism initiatives have created political criticism from the country's Muslim population.[4] This was particularly pronounced when Singapore joined the international community's call for Iraq's disarmament, which eventually led to the American invasion of the country.
The Laju hijacking incident in 1974 contributed to the establishment of full-timeNational Service for the country's police force in 1975, one year after the incident, referred to as Police National Service (PNS), which was aimed at, initially, raising a sizeable source of manpower for the police in the event of another terrorist incident on vital installations and the provision of protection and security for the latter against the former.[7]
It also led to the establishment of an anti-terrorism team which was renamed as theSpecial Operations Force (SOF) in 1984.[8]
In 1984,Total Defence was officially proclaimed as Singapore's overarching defence strategy on 22 January 1984 with five elements: military, civil, economic, social, and psychological.[9][10]
On 26 March 1991, four Pakistanis hijackedSingapore Airlines Flight 117 which had taken off fromSultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang nearKuala Lumpur,Malaysia with 114 passengers and 11 crew on board.[13] The plane was hijacked in mid-air while en route toSingapore Changi Airport and landed safely in Singapore. The Pakistani demanded the release ofPakistan Peoples Party members from Pakistani jails and the plane to be refuelled to fly to Australia.[14] The next day, SOF commandos stormed the plane, killing all hijackers and freeing all passengers and crew members.[15]
In August 2002, 19 members of JI, alongside two members ofMoro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), were arrested in Singapore.[17] The JI plotted to blame the attacks on Singapore to Malaysia to create the impression that Singaporeans of Chinese descent were targeting Malays and Muslims in Malaysia to trigger ajihad in both countries.[18] As of 11 November 2005, 36 alleged members of JI or MILF were detained under theInternal Security Act.[19]
On 25 August 2005, Frenchinvestigating magistrateJean-Louis Bruguière singles out Singapore along withTokyo andSydney as potential terrorism targets of theAl-Qaeda.[25] TheMinistry of Home Affairs responded that it had not received any specific information on terrorist threat but added that security measures have been taken to strengthen security at borders, key infrastructure and iconic buildings.[26][27]
8 January 2006 – Exercise Northstar V, a large scale counter-terrorism exercise similar to7 July 2005 London bombings, was held in Singapore.
In May 2007, the parliament passed an amendment to the SAF Act, giving additional powers to theSingapore Armed Forces. A select group of about 2,000 SAF personnel will be trained to perform security operations in designated areas. These personnel, identified by a Military Security identification card, will be able to search, detain and use reasonable force against terror suspects.[28]
6 July to 30 September 2009 – Exercise Northstar VII, large scale counter-terrorism exercise similar to the2008 Mumbai attacks, the2007 Virginia Tech massacre, and the1999 Columbine High School massacre, was held in Singapore. Places that had been involved were VivoCity, Sentosa, Raffles Place, Bedok, Tampines, Choa Chu Kang, Jurong East, and Orchard Road.
19 May 2010 – A marked map of the SMRT network withOrchard station circled on it was found in the home of a terror suspect killed inIndonesia; it was reported that he had planned an attack on Singapore by entering through Malaysia.[29]
9 November 2010 – Exercise Times Square Conducted. The exercise, named after acar bomb attack in May 2010 at New York's Times Square which was foiled by public vigilance, involved similar circumstances whereby suspicious looking cars were placed in nine locations across Singapore. The findings of the exercise revealed that public vigilance was extremely low, as only 52 out of 7,200 passers-by contacted the authorities.[30]
3 October to 15 November 2012 – Exercise Heartbeat 2012 was conducted. It was placed at locations, such as ION Orchard, Marina Centre, Marina Bay and Sentosa.
18 November 2013 – Exercise Heartbeat 2013 was conducted, placed at random locations, such as Greenview Secondary School, ITE College Central, Plaza Singapura, one-North and Raffles Place SSWG buildings. In this exercise, two "gunmen" hijacked a police car after opening fire at Raffles Place, and then drove away. The gunmen were later shot dead by the police officers at Queenstown Secondary School. Police officers later confiscated the explosive devices.
3 April 2014 – Exercise Heartbeat 2014 is conducted at Temasek Polytechnic.
10 October 2014 – Exercise Heartbeat 2014 is conducted atITE College East.
26 October & 27 October 2014 – Exercise Heartbeat 2014 is conducted at Tampines GreenTerrace,Downtown MRT station, Marina Bay Link Mall,IMM Building, Blk 287A Jurong East Street 21, ITE College West and Fengshan area. It had simulated grenade explosion atIMM Building andDowntown MRT station, hostage-taking and gunmen firing at Marina Bay Link Mall, IMM Building, Blk 287A Jurong East Street 21 and ITE College West. Next to Blk 84 Bedok North Road Market also had the car on fire, part of Exercise Heartbeat 2014. At Tampines GreenTerrace; a Traffic Police car caught fire.
27 January 2015 – Due to the Charlie Hebdo shootings and the Sydney hostage crisis; Exercise Heartbeat 2015 was conducted at Eastpoint Mall and Northpoint Shopping Centre.
18 November 2015 – After theNovember 2015 Paris attacks, PresidentTony Tan expressed his condolences saying "As France mourns the victims, Singapore stands in solidarity with the French people in this difficult time" while Prime MinisterLee Hsien Loong condemned the attacks, calling them "heinous" and "an attack on our shared humanity."[31] Within days, theSingapore Police Force andSingapore Civil Defence continued Exercise Heartbeat 2015 with emergency preparedness exercises on 18 November 2015 atToa Payoh HDB Hub andMarina Bay One Marina Boulevard (OMB) andCity Hall Esplanade Park,[32] as well as atSentosa on 23 November 2015.[33][34]
30 June 2016 – The Minister of Defence announced the formation of the Army Deployment Force, which is a battalion-sized unit fully staffed with regular SAF servicemen. The unit will respond rapidly to terrorist attacks in Singapore alongside the Home Team. It will also work with the Island Defence Task Force and Special Operations Task Force in times of emergencies. It may be activated for overseas humanitarian or peace support operations.[35]
17 October 2016 – The Singapore Armed Forces staged the largest counter-terror exercise in the nation's history. The SAF was deployed to defend against mock attacks at key installations around the island. Home Team and the Singapore Civil Defence Force were deployed to counter a mock hostage taking at Bishan Mall. The exercise was the largest in Singaporean history, involving over 3200 officers. It was conducted with the mission statement to raise public awareness of "the current threat landscape and to encourage continued vigilance."[37][38]
In 2019, digital defence was added as the sixth element of Total Defence, with the government highlighting increasing threats in the cybersphere.[39]
24 January 2024 - the ISD confirmed it had issued a restriction order under the Internal Security Act against a 16-year old Chinese Singaporean youth who had aspired to carry out overseas attacks againstAfrican Americans,Arabs, andLGBTQ+ individuals in North America and Europe. The youth had been radicalised by far right online chat groups and channels. He identified as aWhite supremacist and subscribed to theGreat Replacement theory. Under the restriction order, the youth is not allowed to change his residence, is barred from leaving Singapore, access the Internet or social media and issue public statements, without the approval of the director of the ISD.[44]
15 July 2024 - the ISD confirmed it had issued restriction orders against a 14-year old Singaporean teenager and former public servant An'nadya An'nahari, who had both been radicalised in response to theGaza war. The teenager had wanted to fight for a prophesied Muslim army called the "Black Flag Army" and started an online chat group for the purpose of recruiting classmates for perpetrating terror attacks in Singapore. An'nahari had expressed support for theIslamistAxis of Resistance, a network of Islamist militant and terror groups includingHamas and theHouthi, and advocated violence against Israelis and Jews.[45]
9 January 2025 - the ISD confirmed it had detained three men under the Internal Security Act in October 2024 for making plans to acquire weapons and travel overseas to fight against Israel.[47]
10 February 2025:
The ISD issued a restriction order against Singaporean housewife Hamizah Hamzah for running social media accounts promoting pro-Axis of Resistance and Hamas content. Her husband and cleaner Saharuddin Saari was deported to Malaysia in November 2024.[48]
The ISD confirmed it had detained 18-year old Singaporean student Nick Lee Xing Qiu, who had expoused far right andneo-Nazi beliefs and views, in December 2024 for planning to attack Muslims at a mosque.[49]
11 February – The Ministry of Home Affairs confirms it has deported Iranian national Parvane Heidaridehkordi and her Malaysian husband Soo Thean Ling for running a travel company that sponsored visa applications by terrorism-linked foreigners seeking to enter Singapore. Authorities determined that the travel company was a front organisation controlled by an overseas-based foreigner.[50]
TheSingapore Police Force has in recent years enhanced security at various locations in the country.
On 15 August 2005, the newly establishedPublic Transport Security Command began operational patrols on theMass Rapid Transit network to protect the public transportation system. Personnel from theSpecial Operations Command (SOC) and theGurkha Contingent (GC) have also been deployed to complement other police officers on patrol. In addition, thePolice Coast Guard (PCG) stepped up its effort to inspect ferries and other vessels in Singapore territorial waters.
In December 2005, Exercise Northstar V, a large scale emergency preparedness exercise, was announced.[52] The exercise was intended to educate the public and to train emergency personnel to handle multiple incidents concurrently.[53]
On 8 January 2006, Exercise Northstar V was conducted on fourMRT stations (Raffles Place,Dhoby Ghaut,Toa Payoh andMarina Bay) and onebus interchange (Toa Payoh). The exercise involved a simulated terrorist bomb attack with 500 mock casualties suffering from "injuries" caused by the "explosions" as well aschemical agents. The exercise involved 22 agencies and 2,000 emergency personnel participated in the exercise. The exercise is the largest civil emergency exercise ever staged in the country.[54]
The exercise started at 6:25 am local time on 8 January 2006, a Sunday, and lasted about three hours. To avoid public panic, announcements were made at the affected train stations as well as on television and radio, just before the exercise began. Prominent signages were also displayed.
Mock explosive devices, such as thunderflashes were detonated near-simultaneously in subway trains and station platforms at fourMRT stations (Dhoby Ghaut,Toa Payoh,Raffles Place andMarina Bay) and in adouble decker bus atToa Payoh Bus Interchange. A chemical agent attack was then simulated atDhoby Ghaut at 6:45 am. An undetonated mock bomb was also placed at theRaffles Place. About 3,400 commuters who were on board the subway trains were evacuated during the drill. Services at 13 MRT stations were temporarily disrupted and roads within the vicinity were also closed to traffic. Shuttle buses were used to ferry commuters affected by the exercise.
Thunderflashes, smoke generators, and fire simulators were used to simulate the explosion and 500 simulated casualties were deployed to test emergency rescuers at the scene. These mock casualties carried tags to provide paramedics information on the extent of their injuries and this includes injuries related to bomb blasts, such as open wounds and burns. There were also some with injuries related to chemical agents. Dummy mannequins were also used to simulate casualties. 7 hospitals and 2 polyclinics were also involved in the drill as they received the mock casualties. In two hospitals,Singapore General Hospital andTan Tock Seng Hospital, healthcare workers donneddecontamination suits as they prepared to treat victims of chemical agents suspected to besarin gas.[55]
Following the crackdown on the localJemaah Islamiyah cell, then-Deputy-Prime MinisterGoh Chok Tong held dialogues with the leaders of the Muslim community. Details of the investigation were shared to explain that the arrests were not targeted at the Singapore Muslim community, or Islam. In schools and workplaces,inter-racial confidence circles were formed to promote inter-racial and inter-religious understanding between the different racial and religious communities, while Islamic scholars and counselors in Singapore participated in the rehabilitation of the detained JI members.
^Ho, Elaine Lynn-Ee; Woon, Chih; Ramdas, Kamalini (2013).Changing Landscapes of Singapore: Old Tensions, New Discoveries. Singapore: NUS Press. p. 184.ISBN9789971697723.
^Singapore: Recent Economic and Political Developments Yearbook. Washington, D.C.: International Business Publications. 2008. p. 152.ISBN978-1433062520.
^Rohan, Gunaratna; Yee, Kam Stefanie (2016).Handbook Of Terrorism In The Asia-pacific. London: Imperial college Press. p. 19.ISBN9781783269952.
^Amitav, Acharya (2008).Singapore's Foreign Policy: The Search for Regional Order. New Jersey: World Scientific. p. 90.ISBN9789812708595.
^Squire, Thomas A. (2019).Always a Commando : the life of Singapore army pioneer Clarence Tan. pp. 242–253.ISBN978-9814779319.
