Terrorism threat in Singapore remains high: ISD

A volatile global landscape arising from developments like the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to drive the high terrorism threat in Singapore, said the Internal Security Department (ISD).

- David Sun

It released its annual report on terrorism on July 29, saying terrorist organisations have exploited situations like the one in Gaza to spread propaganda, using them to reinforce their violent narratives.

ISD said ISIS and Al-Qaeda have incited attacks against Israeli and Jewish interests, and those of nations seen as supporting Israel.

This has corresponded with an increase in anti-Semitic incidents worldwide and in Islamophobia overseas, it added.

ISD said there is currently no specific intelligence about an imminent terrorist attack against Singapore. But the country continues to be viewed as an attractive target by terrorists because of its friendly relations with Western nations and Israel, and its status as a secular and multicultural state.

Since its last report in July 2024, ISD has dealt with eight self-radicalised Singaporeans: six males and two females aged 15 to 56.

Four of them had been influenced by the re-escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing some 1,200 people.

Of the other four cases, two were radicalised by pro-ISIS extremist ideologies and two by violent far-right extremism.

ISD warned that ISIS is resilient and remains one of the world's largest Islamist terrorist organisations. It has cash reserves of around $12.9 million and has between 1,500 and 3,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.