SINGAPORE, Jan 22 — The terrorism threat to Singapore remains high, with the "most pressing threat” coming from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), despite the group suffering heavy territorial losses in both countries.

This is the assessment of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in a report issued today.

The Singapore Terrorism Threat Assessment Report 2019 comes after the inaugural version was released in 2017. It seeks to provide the public with a better understanding and appreciation of the terrorism threat and to encourage Singaporeans to be alert and better prepared.

"Even though ISIS has suffered heavy territorial losses in Iraq and Syria, its virulent ideology persists in cyberspace and continues to attract supporters in Singapore, the region and beyond”, said the latest report.

It reiterated that ISIS "remains interested in the region” and continues to portray Southeast Asia as part of its "global caliphate”.

While there has been no credible or specific intelligence of an attack being planned against Singapore since the 2017 report, the MHA said in the report it continues to "detect Singaporeans and foreigners working in Singapore becoming radicalised by terrorist propaganda”.

It "cannot rule out the possibility” of an attack, the ministry stressed. "After all, Singapore was targeted in 2016 by two ISIS-linked plots,” it added.

Persistent threats at home