IS-linked rocket attack plot foiled in Singapore

Indonesian police yesterday arrested six suspected militants over an Islamic State-linked plot to fire a rocket at an upmarket Singapore waterfront district from a nearby island.

Singapore stepped up security after the elite anti-terror unit detained the men, aged between 19 and 46, on the Indonesian island of Batam, which lies just south of the affluent city-state.

The alleged leader of the group is accused of planning the attack with a leading Indonesian militant who is now believed to be fighting with the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria.

It was the latest terror plot in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, where there has been a surge in attacks and attempted attacks this year due to the growing influence of IS.

The pair "planned a terror attack in Singapore. They wanted to attack Singapore with a rocket from Batam," national police spokesman Agus Rianto told reporters.

Police said the target was Marina Bay, a district that is home to Marina Bay Sands, a luxury complex that includes shopping malls, hotels and a casino.

Rianto added police had "preliminary data" and were still investigating the plot, and named the alleged ringleader as 31-year-old Gigih Rahmat Dewa.

Singapore, a financial hub which is home to many expatriates and the Asian headquarters of numerous global companies, said it was stepping up security inland and at its borders after the plot was uncovered.

"This does not come as a surprise," said Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam.

Police suspect Dewa, 31, received and distributed funds sent by Bahrun Naim, the militant fighting in Syria with whom he was believed to have plotted the rocket attack.

Naim has been linked to several recent terror plots in Indonesia, including a suicide bomb attack on a police station in the city of Solo last month that left one police officer injured.