Editing Singapore embassies attack plot (section)

==Failure of plot==

After the [[11 September 2001 attacks]], an informant told the [[Internal Security Department (Singapore)|Internal Security Department]] about [[Muhammad Aslam Yar Ali Khan]], who is a Singaporean citizen of Pakistani descent and had made claims of having ties with Al-Qaeda. Khan was placed under surveillance, but he abruptly left Singapore for Pakistan on 4 October. He was later captured by [[United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan]] officials. His interrogation led investigators to the Singaporean cell.

Singapore authorities conducted the first raid on 8 December 2001,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Six Things You Should Know About ISD's Operation Against JI in Singapore |url=http://www.mha.gov.sg/home-team-news/story/detail/six-things-you-should-know-about-isd-s-operation-against-ji-in-singapore/ |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=Ministry of Home Affairs |language=en}}</ref> arresting six people. A total of 15 people were arrested within a month. During the raids, the police seized documents of the attack plots and bomb making information, as well as photographs and surveillance video of the intended targets including the embassies. Fake passports and forged immigration documents were also found.

Soon after, a JI-made surveillance video was recovered among the rubble of a house that was bombed by US coalition forces in [[Kabul]], Afghanistan. It was the home of [[Mohammed Atef]], a close aide of [[Osama bin Laden]]. The video showed a narrator in Singapore, [[Hashim bin Abas]], describing how bombs could be hidden to attack United States interests. Besides the [[embassies]], the plotters were also planning to target [[United States Air Force]] [[warplane]]s that were stationed at [[Paya Lebar Airbase|Paya Lebar Air Force Base]], as well as several United States companies and businesses. There were also plans to attack U.S. Navy [[warship]]s along Singapore's coastlines, similar to the [[USS Cole bombing]] in Yemen in October 2000.<ref>{{cite news | title =  Dire Straits: The war on terror's Singapore front. | url = http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/278ehjov.asp | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030228032022/http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/278ehjov.asp | url-status = dead | archive-date = 28 February 2003 | author = Austin Bay | date = 3 March 2003 | publisher = The Weekly Standard }}</ref>

The JI group were also plotting to attack [[United States Navy]] personnel and their families who often traveled between the [[Yishun MRT station]] and [[Sembawang]] [[Wharf]] via shuttle buses. The video also detailed how bombs could be planted in the [[sanitary sewer|sewer]]s and drains near the Yishun MRT Station in order to cause massive casualties when targeting United States personnel. The video also showed a man describing how explosives could be strapped on bicycles and be transported without raising suspicion.<ref name="emergencyNet"/> Investigators in Singapore had found similar tapes at the residence of Mohamed Khalim bin Jaffar, one of arrested JI members. The Singapore government presented these material as evidence of a direct link between the JI group and Al-Qaeda.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/arrests/release1_020124.htm | title = "The Link of the Yishun Videotape" Minister of Home Affairs Press Release | date = 14 January 2002 | publisher = Channel NewsAsia | access-date = 18 December 2005 | archive-date = 23 October 2004 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041023074702/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/arrests/release1_020124.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref>

On 15 January 2002, [[Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi]] was arrested by authorities in the Philippines.  He gave police information that led to a cache of rifles, explosive and bomb-making material in Southern Philippines.<ref>{{cite web| title = Fathur Rahman al-Ghozi | url = http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/fathur_rahman_al-ghozi.htm | publisher = Global Security}}</ref> These were believed to be part of the embassies attack plot.

In August 2002, ISD conducted another major security operation and arrested 18 persons, most of them were members of JI, while two were members of the [[Moro Islamic Liberation Front]] (MILF), a militant separatist group in the Philippines.