SINGAPORE - A joint counter-terrorism exercise by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was held on Nov 20, amid heightened security concerns over the conflict in the Middle East.

Exercise Heartbeat, which involved more than 100 participants and included units such as SPF’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) as well as ground response officers, was held at the Millenia Singapore integrated development.

Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State for Home Affairs, and Social and Family Development, who observed the exercise, said: “As we all know, we are living in a time of global strife and uncertainty.”

A number of countries have enhanced security around potential Jewish targets and at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, after an attack on Oct 7 by Hamas, which led to a massive military operation by Israeli forces in Gaza.

In Singapore, possible targets for attack have had their security reassessed, with patrols stepped up at events and places in the light of the Gaza situation.

Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam said on Oct 12 that terrorist groups could try to exploit global conflicts such as the Israel-Hamas war.

He added that some extremist groups have already issued calls for followers to join a wider jihad against Israel, while reports of anti-Semitic attacks have increased globally.

The full-scale exercise on Nov 20 was the first after a hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A smaller-scale Exercise Heartbeat was held at Singapore Management University in 2022, without the presence of external partners.

SPF said officers and volunteers acted out scenarios that allowed both agencies to simulate emergency responses at the Millenia Singapore integrated development, which houses office buildings, hotels and shops.

The development is located next to Suntec City.

The exercise involved a simulation of a suicide bombing, as well as a hostage situation and a vehicular attack on civilians.

At about 10am, an actor, playing a terrorist, delivered a suspicious package to the concierge of Millenia Tower, which sparked an evacuation. Minutes later, he detonated a device he was wearing on a vest.

As injured civilians scrambled to safety, two gunmen appeared and fired rounds indiscriminately. An SPF In-Situ Reaction Team was at the scene within minutes.

The officers, who were armed with HK-MP5 sub-machine guns, are trained to respond to any public security threats at pre-identified high-risk locations with high footfall.

Ground response forces and ERT officers were also activated to subdue the gunmen.

ERT officers, who are handpicked from police land divisions based on fitness levels and marksmanship skills, serve as the first wave of responders to safety and security-related incidents in Singapore, including terrorist attacks.

During the vehicular assault, SCDF paramedics and firefighters were also brought in to help rescue the injured civilians and contain the fire after the vehicle exploded.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Jeremy Ang said strong deployment exercises are important for the officers to train hard, as well as to achieve terrain familiarity and improve coordination.

Staff of Pontiac Land Group, which owns Millenia Singapore and co-organised the exercise, were roped in as actors.

Past iterations of the exercise were held at a shopping mall, university campus and in Sentosa.

Speaking to the media after the exercise, Ms Sun said: “We have recreated the scenario which is most likely and able to happen in Singapore. We must remember that terrorist attacks in Singapore could be a situation of not ‘if’, but ‘when’.”

“We have to make sure that all stakeholders and members of the public are ever-ready for such situations,” she added.