No letting up on being alert to terror risk

The Internal Security Department's (ISD) Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report, released last week, makes the sobering point that the threat of terror to the country remains high. Although there is currently no specific intelligence of an imminent terror attack, Singapore continues to feature as a target in terrorist propaganda. Indeed, with the relaxation of pandemic restrictions and the resumption of cross-border travel, terrorists may become more active and revisit plots that have been put on hold, according to the ISD. Clearly, Singapore's success in preventing a terror attack here is cause for satisfaction - but not complacency. The security agencies, working in tandem with a population attuned instinctively to the need for constant vigilance, must remain alert to global trends that impinge on the domestic threat situation here.

In this regard, there are continuities with the past, but also new developments to take note of. The continuities relate to Islamist terror groups, while what is relatively new is the rise of far-right extremism in non-Muslim nations. On the first front, groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria retain the ability to radicalise and inspire attacks among their followers. The boldness with which they carry out propaganda warfare attests to their determination to attack, where and when they can, and in ways that are big or small, the infrastructure of peace which ultimately secures the well-being of smaller nations like Singapore.