Singapore's main counter-terrorism strategy includes cooperation with regional and international partners to achieve a transnational landscape of security.
[1] It is also at the forefront of the Southeast Asian counter-terrorism efforts[2] and a United States partner in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) that aims to combat the illicit trade and spread of weapons of mass destruction.
[4] This was particularly pronounced when Singapore joined the international community's call for Iraq's disarmament, which eventually led to the American invasion of the country.
On 31 January 1974, four armed men from the terrorist groups Japanese Red Army and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacked the Shell oil refinery complex on Pulau Bukom and later hijacked the ferryboat Laju and took its five crew members hostage.
Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan was placed under surveillance by Singapore Internal Security Department, after which he left for Pakistan on 4 October.
Soon after that, a video found in an abandoned house in Kabul, Afghanistan showed a narrator in Singapore describing how to attack Americans using explosives.
As of 11 November 2005, 36 alleged members of JI or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were being detained under the Internal Security Act.
On 25 August 2005, French investigating magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguière singled out Singapore along with Tokyo and Sydney as potential terrorism targets of the Al-Qaeda.
Personnel from the Special Operations Command (SOC) and the Gurkha Contingent (GC) have also been deployed to complement other police officers on patrol.
In addition, the Police Coast Guard (PCG) stepped up its effort to inspect ferries and other vessels in Singapore territorial waters.
[41] At the forefront in the fight against terrorism are specialised military, law enforcement, and civil defence units, namely: In May 2007, the parliament passed an amendment to the SAF Act, giving additional powers to the Singapore Armed Forces.
These personnel, identified by a Military Security identification card, will be able to search, detain and use reasonable force against terror suspects.
[45] Following the crackdown on the local Jemaah Islamiyah cell, then-Deputy-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong held dialogues with the leaders of the Muslim community.