Koo Jin Shen and Mun Fung
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Sunday, November 20, 2011
A LATE night flight was "hijacked" early yesterday morning by
terrorists as the third anti-terrorism exercise concluded yesterday,
further testing the strength of the nation's ability to resolve a
crisis.
The national exercise dubbed "Setia Bersatu" concluded with 18 people dead, including two terrorists, 34 injured and the arrest of another terrorist.
Seventeen were killed in the initial bomb attack, including the "suicide bomber". One terrorist was shot dead during the rescue attempt on the aircraft, and all "hostages" were rescued without any injuries.
There were two major "scenarios" that took place under the exercise. The first was an explosion set off by a "suicide bomber" at a resort hotel in Jln Kota Batu and the second, a "hijacking" of an aircraft at the Berakas International Airport by two escaping terrorists.
The Brunei Times was notified of the second incident at approximately 2.30am, some three hours after the bomb explosion and had arrived at the Berakas International Airport at about 2.45am. Roadblocks had been set up along the roads leading into the airport by armed policemen.
For a period of time, the reporters were confined to the "media centre" and was informed at around 3am that two "hijackers" had taken over an aircraft with passengers aboard.
Between 3.40am to 4.40am, media were then given clearance to observe the situation briefly and were escorted by airport security to see the plane that had been hijacked from a safe distance.
The aircraft was isolated from the main terminal, and was a minute or two away from the Airport Fire Station.
The windows of the aircraft were too dark to see through, thus was either blocked or the cabin lights had been turned off.
At 4.44 am, ASP Pg Hj Abdul Salam Pg Hj Abdul Ghani, head of the Royal Brunei Police Force's Public Relations Unit, disclosed that the two hijackers had snuck aboard the plane alongside 35 "passengers", consisting of both Bruneians and foreigners.
After they boarding the plane, they proceeded to accost the pilot and take over the aircraft and its 13 crew.
At that time, Pg Hj Abd Salam said that the "hostages" remain unharmed, though the hijackers had made threats to their lives.
He said that RBPF Negotiators were engaged in discussions with the terrorists, and the RBPF's priority was to "save lives".
The negotiations were said by the RBPF to last several hours, before the scenario advanced to the police launching an assault on the terrorists. RBPF stated that the second scenario concluded at approximately 6:45am.
The hijackers were believed to possess firearms. When asked how the firearms were smuggled aboard, the police spokesperson replied that it was still under investigation.
The two hijackers were also believed to be connected to the first incident reported at the resort.
Based on initial investigation, police stated that the terrorists' motives was "revenge on the death of one of their chiefs".
Pg Hj Abd Salam also revealed that after getting word of the explosion at Jln Kota Batu, police stations in all four districts had heightened security at border checkpoints and had set up roadblocks.
The spokesperson said that despite the current situation, the airport remains open and flights were to operate as scheduled, though there will be a heightened security presence.
Departments involved in the second "live" simulation were the RBPF, the Immigration Department, Department of Civil Aviation as well as the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.
The Special Operation Squad of the RBPF had also been deployed.
The simulation was launched under the National Security Committee, and was coordinated by the RBPF with the cooperation of all other agencies involved.
The main objective of such exercises is to prepare for any terrorist issues that may threaten the national safety of the country.
The national exercise dubbed "Setia Bersatu" concluded with 18 people dead, including two terrorists, 34 injured and the arrest of another terrorist.
Seventeen were killed in the initial bomb attack, including the "suicide bomber". One terrorist was shot dead during the rescue attempt on the aircraft, and all "hostages" were rescued without any injuries.
There were two major "scenarios" that took place under the exercise. The first was an explosion set off by a "suicide bomber" at a resort hotel in Jln Kota Batu and the second, a "hijacking" of an aircraft at the Berakas International Airport by two escaping terrorists.
The Brunei Times was notified of the second incident at approximately 2.30am, some three hours after the bomb explosion and had arrived at the Berakas International Airport at about 2.45am. Roadblocks had been set up along the roads leading into the airport by armed policemen.
For a period of time, the reporters were confined to the "media centre" and was informed at around 3am that two "hijackers" had taken over an aircraft with passengers aboard.
Between 3.40am to 4.40am, media were then given clearance to observe the situation briefly and were escorted by airport security to see the plane that had been hijacked from a safe distance.
The aircraft was isolated from the main terminal, and was a minute or two away from the Airport Fire Station.
The windows of the aircraft were too dark to see through, thus was either blocked or the cabin lights had been turned off.
At 4.44 am, ASP Pg Hj Abdul Salam Pg Hj Abdul Ghani, head of the Royal Brunei Police Force's Public Relations Unit, disclosed that the two hijackers had snuck aboard the plane alongside 35 "passengers", consisting of both Bruneians and foreigners.
After they boarding the plane, they proceeded to accost the pilot and take over the aircraft and its 13 crew.
At that time, Pg Hj Abd Salam said that the "hostages" remain unharmed, though the hijackers had made threats to their lives.
He said that RBPF Negotiators were engaged in discussions with the terrorists, and the RBPF's priority was to "save lives".
The negotiations were said by the RBPF to last several hours, before the scenario advanced to the police launching an assault on the terrorists. RBPF stated that the second scenario concluded at approximately 6:45am.
The hijackers were believed to possess firearms. When asked how the firearms were smuggled aboard, the police spokesperson replied that it was still under investigation.
The two hijackers were also believed to be connected to the first incident reported at the resort.
Based on initial investigation, police stated that the terrorists' motives was "revenge on the death of one of their chiefs".
Pg Hj Abd Salam also revealed that after getting word of the explosion at Jln Kota Batu, police stations in all four districts had heightened security at border checkpoints and had set up roadblocks.
The spokesperson said that despite the current situation, the airport remains open and flights were to operate as scheduled, though there will be a heightened security presence.
Departments involved in the second "live" simulation were the RBPF, the Immigration Department, Department of Civil Aviation as well as the Royal Brunei Armed Forces.
The Special Operation Squad of the RBPF had also been deployed.
The simulation was launched under the National Security Committee, and was coordinated by the RBPF with the cooperation of all other agencies involved.
The main objective of such exercises is to prepare for any terrorist issues that may threaten the national safety of the country.
The Special Operations Squad (SOS), the Royal Brunei Police Force elite
team, rescuing 'passengers' that had been held hostage during a
terrorist attempt to hijack one of Brunei's aircraft, during the
National Training Exercise early yesterday morning. Pictures: Courtesy
of RBPF
