Thousands of Singaporean troops have been dispatched to Australia for Exercise Wallaby, one of the city-state’s largest overseas training exercises.

Singapore’s ministry of defence said a Hunter armoured fighting vehicle had “rear-ended another while moving back to base” at Australia’s Shoalwater Bay training facility on Tuesday night.

The ministry said 12 “servicemen sustained non-serious injuries and they have been transported to hospital”.

“They are currently being treated or recovering well.”

Singapore’s army called for a “safety pause” so that it could “remind drivers to maintain proper distance”.

The unilateral war games take place under a longstanding agreement between Australia and Singapore, which lacks the landmass to train its military at scale.