Singapore carries out largest counter-terrorism exercise

Singapore carried out the largest counter-terrorism exercise from Monday to Tuesday to enhance preparedness in facing of terrorism threats.

Over 3,200 personnel from Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the Home Team participated in the operations.

The two-day exercise took place at more than 360 locations in the city state, including public transport hubs, shopping malls, residential areas and immigration checkpoints.

The simulated exercise kicked off as the "terror attack" message was received by the intelligence, then the security team started operations to cope with the threats. The island-wide exercise aimed to test the combined response between the Home Team and SAF, as well as raise public awareness of the current threat landscape.

Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean on Tuesday stressed that threat levels from terrorism in the region have been higher than what Singapore has seen for many years, and this is something Singaporeans have to take seriously.

Besides, the Ministry of Home Affairs has launched an SMS alert system, which can notify people if there is a major emergency nearby, in collaboration with local telcos recently. On Sept. 24, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched SGSecure, a nationwide movement to increase the public's preparedness and resilience. Endit