Experts warn of terrorism threat in Singapore

Singapore (VNA) – Supporters of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria have named Singapore as part of its “East Asia wilayah”, a move that analysts say could embolden foreign fighters to carry out attacks here, according to Singapore’s English language daily newspaper Strait Times.

In a paper recently published by the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, senior analyst Jasminder Singh believed that together with Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and southern Thailand, Singapore is singled out on social media as part of the wilayah.

Singh said that this will suggest targets for foreign gunmen who are flocking to the region.

Other security analysts say this could encourage self-radicalised individuals to carry out spate of attacks if they are unable to travel to the Middle East to fight.

The assessments come as the terrorism threat facing Singapore is at the highest level in recent years and the country sees a substantial number of self-radicalised people.

On June 20, Singaporean authorities arrested a traffic policeman for planning to travel to Syria to fight. His colleague, who is aware of his plan, was imposed restriction on travel for not informing relevant authorities.

Last week, a woman was captured as she was suspected of radicalisation.

In recent weeks, the Southeast Asian region has been on high alert as fighters who pledge loyalty to the Islamic State have seized Marawi city on Mindanao island, southern Philippines.

Experts warned that Minadao will be the IS’s target in the region after its failure in Syria and Iraq. IS-backed militant groups’ battle to control Marawi city raises concern that the IS is seeking to build a base in the Southeast Asia, threatening regional security.-VNA