Gang may be ISIS-related
Marina Bays Sands, the Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Singapore casino, was the intended target of a group of terrorists, according to Indonesian authorities. Law enforcement announced the arrests of six men suspected of plotting a terror attack on the Marina Bay district, home of the integrated resort, reported CalvinAyre.com.
The men, who were detained following a series of raids, reportedly planned to fire rockets at Marina Bay from Batam, an Indonesian island across the Strait of Singapore. Weapons were found in at least one of the raid sites, reported the Straits Times, who quoted a neighbor who said police found a bomb that had “already been assembled.”
The suspects, who remain in custody, are allegedly part of an ISIS offshoot called KGR@Katibah.
In a Facebook post, Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen warned residents to “assume that there may be more plots, other terror cells on the lookout for ways, and new munitions to penetrate our defenses.”
Steve Vickers and Associates, a Hong Kong-based risk consultant, has suggested that terrorists may be planning a “spectacular attack on a soft target such as a mall in Australia or a casino in Macau”; the latter jurisdiction may be especially tempting because Macau’s gaming industry includes a “nexus of Chinese, American and Jewish interests.”
Indonesian police reportedly were tipped off to the planned attack by conversations on social media.
