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| Singapore Counter-Terrorism Training (File Photo) |
By Prashanth Parameswaran
The city-state convenes meeting to share best practices amid a rising Islamic State threat.
On April 16, Singapore kicked off its inaugural East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Integration, a counterterrorism meeting designed to share best practices — including Singapore’s own comprehensive approach — with like-minded states.
Speaking at the symposium, the city-state’s deputy prime minister, Teo Chee Hean, argued that the terrorism threat has only worsened following the 9/11 attacks particularly with the rise and spread of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Teo expressed concern about the return of radicalized ISIS fighters to their home countries and the rise of “lone-wolf terrorist attacks” conducted by individuals influenced by ideology through social media.
“Being lone wolves, their identities may not be easily uncovered and they can strike at any time, using any means at their disposal,” he said, according to the Singapore newspaper Today.
Teo emphasized that efforts needed to be taken to counter the ideology of groups like ISIS as well as to reintegrate rehabilitated terrorists into society.
Read the full story at The Diplomat