SINGAPORE, May 22, 2024 (AFP) – Singapore has tightened security after an attack on a police station in neighbouring Malaysia by a man with suspected ties to an Al-Qaeda-linked group, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said Tuesday.
Two police officers were killed and another injured by the machete-wielding attacker on Friday in Malaysia’s southern Johor state, near the narrow waterway separating the country from Singapore.
The man, whose father is a member of Southeast Asia-based terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), was shot dead by the injured policeman.
“Such an attack, just across our borders, is a grim reminder that the threat of terrorism remains high,” said Wong, Singapore’s newly installed prime minister.
“We have stepped up security measures, including at our checkpoints,” he said on Facebook, urging the public to immediately report “any suspicious persons or activities”.
“Our security agencies will continue to monitor global and regional security developments closely.”
JI has been blamed for a series of deadly bomb attacks in the region including the 2002 bombings in the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Malaysia’s home minister Saifuddin Nasution said the suspect appeared to have acted alone despite his father’s links to JI, local media reported.