Singaporean police (Photo: AFP/VNA)Singapore (VNA) – Supporters of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq andSyria have named Singapore as part of its “East Asia wilayah”, a move thatanalysts 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 InternationalStudies, senior analyst Jasminder Singh believed that together with Malaysia,Indonesia, the Philippines and southern Thailand, Singapore is singled out onsocial media as part of the wilayah.
Singh said that this will suggest targets for foreign gunmen who are flocking tothe region.
Other security analysts say this could encourage self-radicalised individualsto carry out spate of attacks if they are unable to travel to the Middle Eastto fight.
The assessments come as the terrorism threat facing Singapore is at the highestlevel in recent years and the country sees a substantial number ofself-radicalised people.
On June 20, Singaporean authorities arrested a traffic policeman for planningto travel to Syria to fight. His colleague, who is aware of his plan, wasimposed 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 fighterswho pledge loyalty to the Islamic State have seized Marawi city on Mindanaoisland, southern Philippines.
Experts warned that Minadao will be the IS’s target in the region after itsfailure in Syria and Iraq. IS-backed militant groups’ battle to control Marawicity raises concern that the IS is seeking to build a base in the SoutheastAsia, threatening regional security.-VNA
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