Nations form pact in fight against terrorism at sea

Taking them on: Teams from the special forces of Brunei, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand taking part in a military exercise during the ADMM in Bandar Seri Begawan. — The Straits Times/Asia News Network

Singapore: The Singapore leg of a multinational military exercise kicked off as task forces intercepted and stormed a merchant vessel hijacked by “terrorists” at sea.

The action-packed operation was part of the Asean Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM)-Plus Maritime Security and Counter-Terrorism Exercise in Brunei. It will now continue in Singapore until Thursday.

The 11-day drill, which involves realistic sea- and land-based scenarios, aims to strengthen the capabilities of participating nations in tackling terrorism and maritime threats.

About 3,500 personnel, 18 naval vessels, 25 aircraft and 40 special forces teams from 18 countries are taking part. Participants include the 10 Asean nations, the United States, Australia, China, Japan, India, South Korea, New Zealand and Russia.

The inaugural ADMM-Plus convened in Vietnam in 2010, with the goal of boosting security and defence cooperation among Asean countries and their partners.

Working groups were set up in various areas of cooperation, which include maritime security and counter-terrorism.

This is the fifth ADMM-Plus field training exercise. The first was held in 2013 and focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and military medicine.

This is the first time that the ADMM-Plus’ maritime security and counter-terrorism working groups are collaborating in an exercise.

Its joint operations director Brigadier-General (BG) Desmond Tan, 45, said such a collaboration is important as terrorism can occur out at sea.

“This has the added advantage of (adding) more relevance and realism to the exercise, (as) terrorism and maritime security are sometimes intertwined,” said BG Tan.

He added that collaboration allows for a wider scope of interaction among the troops. Citing piracy issues, BG Tan also described the exercise as timely and relevant.

“I think we all recognise that these are trans-boundary challenges that no one country can tackle by itself,” he said.

In yesterday’s drill, the maritime security task force headquarters in Brunei’s Muara Naval Base and the counter-terrorism task force headquarters in Changi Naval Base were alerted to a hijacked vessel.

After tracking down the vessel, the hijackers were eventually subdued and the hostages rescued. — The Strait Times/Asia News Network