SINGAPORE, Sept 15 — The Internal Security Department (ISD) has no knowledge of an imminent terror threat to Singapore, it said today (September 15).
Its statement came after media reports that Japan’s authorities had warned of possible attacks in six Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore.
“ISD currently has no specific or credible intelligence of an imminent terrorist threat to Singapore,” it said in a brief statement published on its website.
“We have reached out to our Japanese counterparts and they also have no specific intelligence.”
On Monday, The Associated Press (AP) news agency reported that Japan’s foreign ministry had urged its citizens to stay away from religious facilities and crowds in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar.
Based on AP's report, the ministry had obtained information that “there are increased risks such as suicide bombings”.
Japan’s advisory urged its citizens to pay close attention to local news and information, and exercise caution for the time being, but did not give a specific timeframe or other details.
Its foreign ministry said that the advisory was sent to embassies in the countries identified for distribution to Japanese citizens. It did not disclose the source of the information or whether it was shared with other countries.
Apart from Singapore, several of the other countries quoted by AP said that they had no knowledge of such a threat or details from Japan about the source of its information.
A spokesperson for Thailand’s foreign ministry said that Japan had not revealed the origin of the warning and that the Japanese embassy had no further details other than to say that it was “not specific to Thailand”.
Thailand's deputy police spokesperson added that the country’s security agencies had no information on a possible threat.
The foreign affairs department of the Philippines said that it was not aware of any information about an elevated threat level.
In Indonesia, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry denied that any warning was even sent to Japanese citizens there.
Malaysian police, too, said that they had not received any information or detected any security threats.
Nevertheless, Singapore’s ISD urged the public to stay vigilant and call its counter-terrorism hotline promptly on 1800 2626 473 or file a report via the SGSecure mobile application, if they come across suspicious persons or activities. ― TODAY
