New Delhi: A 17-year-old youth has been detained by Singapore under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after he hatched a plan to attack non-Muslim males in a public housing estate, according to the Internal Security Department (ISD) on Friday.
The ISD press release said that the self-radicalised youth, swayed by extremist propaganda from the Islamic State (ISIS), was arrested in August, just weeks ahead of his intended attack. The man had planned to use household items, such as a kitchen knife or scissors, as weapons, the release added.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said, “I would say this is one of the cases where it was quite close, fairly close.” He pointed to the short timeframe between the teenager’s arrest and his intended attack.
The teenager had chosen a location near Tampines West Community Centre as target. It is a densely populated area having shopping malls and recreational facilities, which makes it particularly teeming with crowd during school holidays. Shanmugam noted the area draws thousands of people daily, including children and the elderly.
The youth was handed a two-year detention order in September, according to local media.
How did he prepare himself
According to the department, the youth had taken “concrete steps” towards carrying out his plan. This involved a walkthrough of the route he would take from his home to the planned target site. He also practiced stabbing motions with scissors to “maximise damage” on his targeted victims, concentrating on vulnerable areas such as the neck, according to the ISD. “He felt a sense of pride knowing that his planned attack if successfully executed would be the first terrorist attack in Singapore in recent decades,” the release said.
Swayed by ISIS propaganda
The teen was reportedly swayed by ISIS propaganda and radical teachings he read online. The ISD reported that he became exposed to extremist content in the mid-2023 while browsing religious content online. He began to follow radical preachers and joined online forums linked to ISIS, where he absorbed violent narratives about jihad and martyrdom.
Following the Hamas attacks on Israel in October last year, the youth’s radicalisation increased. By January, he had committed to becoming a “martyr” for the ISIS. In May, he vowed allegiance to ISIS, and saw himself as a full member and showing a willingness to carry out attacks on their behalf, according to the ISD.
This is the fifth instance since 2020 of self-radicalised youths in Singapore being detained under the ISA for plotting attacks.
