Singapore says terror threat remains high, pointing to Gaza war and ‘radical narratives’

The terrorism threat to Singapore remains high, its home affairs ministry says in a new report, attributing the increased threat to the the war in Gaza and “continued traction of radical narratives.”

While there was no current intelligence of an imminent attack against Singapore, the ministry says the Islamic State terror group uses propaganda to exploit the war in Gaza and local grievances to reinforce its narrative of armed violence.

Since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza, six Singaporeans have been found to support or were making preparations to take part in armed violence because of the conflict, says the report.

“Singapore and our interests continue to be viewed as attractive and legitimate targets by terrorist and extremist elements, due to our friendly relations with Western nations and Israel, the presence of iconic structures in Singapore, and our status as a secular and multicultural state,” it says.

The ministry says a key threat is online self-radicalization, in a variety of extremist ideologies, especially of youths.

Since 2015, Singapore has used the Internal Security Act against 17 youths aged 20. Most recently it was used against two teenagers — one planned to shoot mosques, the other planned to join Islamic State.

The law allows suspects to be held for lengthy periods without trial, or to be given a restriction order limiting travel and internet access, among other conditions.

The threat assessment report also says artificial intelligence is emerging as a terrorism enabler for “generating and translating propaganda, producing convincing synthetic multimedia, creating personalized recruitment messages at scale and planning and developing attacks.”