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The shocking revelation that Orchard MRT station was a target for terrorists serves as a chilling reminder that we cannot take our security here in Singapore for granted.
The Straits Times reports that the station was circled on a map found in the home of terror suspect, Ahmah Sayid Maulana, who was killed in a raid in East Jakarta last Wednesday.
According to a senior Indonesian police investigator, the terrorists intended to enter Singapore through Malaysia, with RM11,517 (S$4,980) found in the house as well.
A Home Affairs Ministry spokesman said a team was currently in Jakarta to discuss the findings with the Indonesian police.
The chilling discovery comes 9 years after another plot to set off bombs at Yishun MRT was uncovered. That Jemaah Islamiyah plan targeted U.S. personnel and families who frequently travelled between the station and Sembawang Wharf.
Although Maulana is dead, it’s believed he still has associates, with possible connections to terror cells in Malaysia, or even Singapore.
Just days before, a plot to assassinate Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top government officials, was thwarted after police raids in northern Sumatra and around Jakarta took down 13 suspected militants and resulted in 71 arrests.
Terrorism expert Dr John Harrison said terrorists commonly target mass transportation systems in order to inflict greater damage, and that the “Singapore transportation system has been, and will always be high-value target.”
So the next time you see that ad on MRT platforms warning about suspicious strangers or packages, don’t laugh or snigger.
It only takes one time for our guard to be let down for untold tragedy to occur.
Source:
http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/05/19/orchard-mrt-attack/
