Hi. Just a quick question that I'm sure will seem stupid to those in the know, but... has the Singaporean air force (or Army or Navy) ever killed anyone (other than in training accidents)?
You have some great kit (equipment) but I'm wondering if it has ever been used in anger.
1. We were in a shadow war with Indonesia during the
Konfrontasi (1963 to 1966), as Sukarno (then President of Indonesia) was opposed to the formation of
Malaysia.
(i) On 10 March 1965, Indonesia marines bombed MacDonald House on Orchard Road.
Throughout the Konfrontasi, 37 bombs hit Singapore, the worst single incident being the MacDonald House bombing. Arising from the bombing, two Indonesia marines were arrested and hanged on 17 October 1968. As a result, 400 students in Jakarta ransacked the Singapore Embassy as retaliation and attacked our diplomats.
(ii) The First Singapore Infantry Regiment (1 SIR) and the Second Singapore Infantry Regiment (2 SIR), were placed under Malaysian command and deployed in various parts of Malaya to fight the saboteurs. 1 SIR was deployed in Borneo and 2 SIR in parts of Southeast Johor.
LT-GEN (Ret) Winston Choo, who later became Chief, General Staff was a Platoon Commander of 11th Platoon, Charlie Company, 1 SIR during the Konfrontasi. BTW
2 SIR suffered some casualties during their deployment in Malaysia.
2.
On 31 Jan 1974, the Shell Oil Refinery (at Pulau Bukom Besar, south of Singapore) was subject to a blotched attack by 4 terrorists: 2 from the Japanese Red Army (JRA) and 2 from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). This is also known as the Laju Incident (
see link for President S.R. Nathan's and the SAF's role).
No one was killed. Thereafter, the JRA and PFLP terrorists were escorted out of Singapore and the hostages taken were released.
3. On 17 March 1985 and on 21 December 1986*, Palestinian terrorists set off more
bombs at or around Faber House, along Orchard Road in Singapore. We believe the bombs were targeted at the Israeli embassy (then located at Faber House) but
no one was killed. One of the Palestinian terrorists, Fuad Hassin al-Shara confessed to the bombings when he was captured by the Israelis in 1991.
4. On 26 March 1991, four Pakistani terrorists, claiming to be members of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP),
hijacked SQ 117 from Subang Airport in Kuala Lumpur with 129 passengers and crew.
(i) On 27 March 1991, members of our Special Operations Force (SOF) stormed the plane,
killing the four Pakistani hijackers and freeing all passengers and crew. Kindly note that Singapore only officially acknowledged that the
SOF existed as unit in 1997, as such, all prior news releases attributed the action to our Commandos.
(ii) The late
Ms Benazir Bhutto issued a denial of PPP's involvement. However, it should be noted that
Asif Ali Zardori, the husband of the late Ms Bhutto and current President of Pakistan was included among several Pakistani prisoners whom the hijackers of SQ117 wanted released.
5. I also note that on 9 August 1991 (on Singapore's 26th National Day), an airborne assault exercise, codenamed Pukul Habis (Malay for 'Total Wipeout') was conducted by Malaysian-Indonesian paratroopers in a drop zone just 18km from Singapore in Johor.
IMO, from that year, Singapore and Malaysia bilateral ties were set on a downward trend for the duration of Tun Dr. Mahathir's (Dr M) term as PM of Malaysia (See water dispute backgrounders -
2003 ISEAS article and
2004 Harvard article). In fact,
Dr M was reported by Raja Petra Kamarudin to have said:
“Please never mention Singapore in front of me again. Don’t you know we are at war with Singapore?”
According to a
Singapore defence correspondent:
"...The SAF's response [to Ex Pukul Habis (or Ex Total Wipeout in English)] was measured and confident. It triggered an Open Mobilisation on the eve of National Day. The move was calculated not to escalate tensions. But it signalled also Singapore's determination not to welcome a Trojan horse on its doorstep..."
6. As this is a thread on the RSAF, I should mention that on 9 July 1997, in
Operation Crimson Angel, the 122 squadron of the RSAF and other security elements of the SAF conducted two waves of air evacuations using our C-130s to evacuate 400 Singaporeans from Phnom Penh as the security situation in Cambodia deteriorated.
Technically, this was not a combat operation.
7. According to a senior
Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) officer, the MAF was put on alert in late 1998 as politicians argued over the status of the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) checkpoint. Military officials on both sides privately acknowledged that heightened military preparedness did occur. It indicated a tacit acknowledgement on the part of Malaysia's defence officials that they could not allow the CIQ issue to flare into a casus belli.
8. Since 2003 the RSN, the RSAF and our army have deployed, in a series of low profile missions (in what we try to present as theoretically non-combat roles), to both Iraq and Afghanistan. It is important to remember that Singapore is located in a predominately Muslim populated region and our support for the US is not appreciated. The various information releases reflect this concern and the desire to downplay any potential shooter role. As
one American noted:
"One of the great undiscussed aspects of the coalition of the willing for Iraq has been the steady contribution of Singapore's Navy for security for the Iraqi oil platforms KAAOT and ABOT... specifically providing the Iraqi Navy with a base at sea for training and operations. This isn't a small thing, by using large amphibious ships as forward bases, the Iraqi Navy saves 3 days round trip to and from port for provisions..."
If you may remember, the RSN deployed our ships (from 2003 to 2008) to defend the Iraqi oil platforms (which were subject to
suicide attacks by dhows in April 2004). It was
by chance that our ships were not at the Iraqi oil platforms during the April 2004 suicide attacks. For more details, see the Singapore Mindef video below:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay_t0GPaY_U"]In the Service of Peace[/ame]
There's also an ISAF video of our guys deployed as part of a
NZ led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in
Bamiyan (see Wired article for details):
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjO0I976KHI"]SG & NZ Troops in Afghanistan[/ame]
9. Beyond sending small groups to PRTs, medical teams, civilian aid and education effort
(in Conflict & Peace studies), we are also planning the following
future military deployments:
(i) a KC-135 (something we have been doing in the past);
(ii) a UAV Task Group (something new); and
(iii) a Weapon Locating Radar team to Tarin Kowt to deal with increased rocket attacks and enhance force protection measures of the ISAF personnel deployed there (also something new).
* Note: The 21 December 1986 bombing occurred slightly more than 1 month of the then Israeli President Chaim Herzog's visit to Singapore in November 1986. BTW, there were orchestrated protests in Malaysia over Chaim Herzog's visit and I also note that Malaysia has diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
P.S. When the 26 Dec 2004 Tsunami struck, the SAF mounted its biggest-ever rescue and relief operation, Codenamed Operation Flying Eagle, with over 1,500 personnel deployed, three Endurance Class LPDs, twelve helicopters and eight transport aircaft. The main missions were in four locations in two countries - Medan, Banda Aceh and Meulaboh in Indonesia and Phuket in Thailand. The RSAF also flew supply and support missions to Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Mauritius. Here's a video (you'll need broadband to see) and an ebook of our contributions.
.