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SINGAPORE: Could Singapore cope if terrorists launched a series of coordinated assaults on the island?
That's the question posed in this year's Exercise Northstar, an annual event to test the emergency response capabilities of the different agencies.
This year's exercise, dubbed Northstar VII, simulated the attacks on India's Mumbai city last November, with terrorists launching simultaneous assaults on key public areas.
There are two phases in Exercise Northstar VII. Phase one started on Monday and will continue on Tuesday with scenarios involving public transport and shopping malls.
Phase 2, which takes place next week, will simulate a hostage situation at a hotel.
Fifteen public and private sector organisations are taking part in the exercise this year, including the Defence Ministry, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Maritime and Port Authority, and public transport providers.
On Monday, the simulated scenario started on Sentosa island, with police receiving reports of "gunfire" at a popular bar there. They arrived at the Cafe del Mar within minutes but by then it was a scene of ruins.
10 people were "dead" and 20 more "injured". It was later established that the "attackers" had come in by the sea on small boats, and they were not alone. Other "gunmen" had quickly made their way to hotels in the busy Orchard Road shopping belt, leaving behind a trail of carnage.
For the first time the media was involved as participants, to test how the police would manage and coordinate the dissemination of information in a crisis situation.
Singapore Police Force's assistant director of operations planning, Devrajan Bala, said: "Drawing lessons from Mumbai, we realised that information management is critical as it can compromise our operations if not managed well.
"We also want the media to understand our constraints as we run into an incident like this. We may not be able to give you updates in a very timely manner. Essentially, we're still running the operations so it's critical that you understand operations as they run on the ground."
- CNA/ir
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