Hostage situation & armed terrorists among scenarios tackled in S'pore counter-terrorism exercise ‘Exercise Heartbeat 2026’

As part of a counter-terrorism and emergency preparedness exercise on Feb. 13, 2026, over 120 participants were faced with multiple scenarios, including the detonation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), armed terrorists and a hostage situation.

Codenamed “Exercise Heartbeat”, the exercise, organised by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) saw the participants responding to a simulated terror attack at the National University of Singapore (NUS) University Town (UTown).

They included officers from SPF’s Emergency Response Team (ERT), Police Tactical Unit (PTU) of the Special Operations Command (SOC), and ground response officers.

Terrorist attacks

This year’s "Exercise Heartbeat" highlighted the close collaboration between Home Team agencies and community partners in responding to terrorist attacks at UTown, a police news release noted.

It added that UTown is an integral part of the university, serving as an educational hub and offering residential spaces, teaching facilities, and a cultural environment for students and university staff.

Through responding to various scenarios, the NUS stakeholders, as well as students trained by the SPF and SCDF in emergency skills, showcased their application of the key SGSecure advisories "Run, Hide, Tell" and "Press, Tie, Tell" (Improvised First Aid Skills (IFAS)) prior to the arrival of emergency responders.

These swift actions demonstrated how trained community members can save lives and minimise casualties during crises.

Various scenarios

The media observed that during the exercise on Feb. 13, participants stepped in to take down the gunmen, as well as attend to and rescue the hostages.

Hostages were then escorted out of the danger zone.

In addition, this exercise reinforced the importance for community partners to periodically review their security measures, familiarise themselves with and validate their contingency plans to enhance their readiness to respond to emergencies.

Top photos via Mothership