The escalation of violence in the Middle East as well as the expansion of the dreaded Islamic State group has raised the terror threat posed to Singapore, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean told Parliament on Tuesday.
The Islamic State (IS) continues to actively recruit foreign fighters including Southeast Asians and its brutality is not confined to beheadings of Westerners, but also to the killing of other Muslims and minority communities in Syria and Iraq, said Teo, who is also Minister of Home Affairs.
“We have no information currently of any specific threat to us resulting directly from the anti-IS strikes,” he said.
“However, our assessment remains that the expansion of the IS beyond Syria and Iraq has raised the threat to Singapore. Even if Singapore is not itself a target, foreign interests here may be targeted,” he said, citing the example of how Al-Qaeda, working with Jemaah Islamiyah planned to bomb the US and other embassies here in 2002.