SINGAPORE - The Singapore Expo convention centre was "attacked" on Friday (May 13) morning - as part of an islandwide counter-terrorism exercise that involved multiple units from the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

At the Singapore Expo, officers had to respond to simulated improvised explosive device threats, suicide bomber and active shooter incidents.

This was followed by a second phase held at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College East, where officers had to respond to a shooting scenario.

In a statement on Friday, the police said their Ground Response Force officers and Emergency Response Teams provided the first line of response to the simulated attacks at the Singapore Expo.

They added: "The second wave (of) responders from the Armed Strike Teams of the SPF's Special Operations Command and Gurkha Contingent provided additional tactical capabilities to neutralise the shooters and suicide bomber."

The SAF's Island Defence Task Force, which was supported by the Army Deployment Force, 1st Commando Battalion and 15th Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence Battalion, helped in surveillance of the area and contained the situation by cordoning off the incident site.

Those "injured" in the exercise were evacuated by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

The SPF's Armed Strike Teams and the K-9 Search Dog Team helped to search for civilians and hidden perpetrators, added the police.

At ITE College East, the SPF's Ground Response Force and Emergency Response Team officers responded to the simulated shooting.

An unmanned aerial vehicle was deployed to provide live visual updates to the SPF commander on the ground.

The SAF's Special Operations Task Force (SOTF) supported the SPF in subduing the "active shooter".

The SOTF also neutralised a mock suicide bomber together with the SAF's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosives Defence Group.

The police added that the SAF's Medical Response Force was activated to provide care for simulated casualties among the assault forces.

"The SPF and SAF conduct regular joint training and exercises to enhance operational readiness in homeland security operations.

"Such interactions strengthen interoperability between the two security forces to deal swiftly and effectively with terrorism threats under the Homefront Crisis Management Framework," said the police.