Singaporean Law and Home Affairs Minister Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam (Photo: Reuters)Singapore (VNA) – Singapore’s securityauthorities have warned that the threat of a terror attack is now higher thanbefore as radical Islamists are becoming increasingly active in neighbouringIndonesia.
Speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Association inSingapore on December 2, Law and Home Affairs Minister KasiviswanathanShanmugam said that Singapore has received a great amount of information warningof the threat.
He added that the country will take the warnings from Indonesiaseriously and keep in close touch with the neighbouring country.
However, he did not specify whether the threat has increasedjust in the city state or in Southeast Asian region in general.
The Minister’s comment was made as tens of thousands ofMuslim carried out a protest in Jakarta against the city’s Christian governorfor allegedly defaming the Koran.
Singapore has never witnessed any attack of Islamic militants,but the government has warned its citizens of the attack threat.
Previously, Singaporean authorities broke up a plot to bombseveral embassies not long after the September 11, 2011 attacks on the UnitedStates.
A Singaporean was accused of plotting to crash a hijackedplane into the city’s airport in 2002.
Earlier this year, Indonesian police arrested six suspiciousmilitants who were believed to be linked to the Islamic State (IS) group and wereplotting an attack on Singapore.
According to statistics of the Singaporean Ministry of Lawand Home Affairs, about 1,000 people have left the Southeast Asian region to warzones in Syria and Iraq to fight for the IS, most of whom being Malaysian andIndonesian and some 10 being Singaporean.-VNA
