Singapore: An 18-year-old post-secondary student in Singapore was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in December 2022. He planned and prepared to carry out armed violence in Singapore and abroad.
Singaporeans have been self-radicalized by online propaganda by ISIS in Iraq and Syria, according to the republic’s Internal Security Department (ISD).
One of his plans involves bombing Keramat Habib Noh, the Haji Muhammad Saleh Mosque. This is because he believed the decorated, above-ground cemeteries were “un-Islamic,” he said, the ISD.
“He downloaded the manual for making the C4 bomb online and intended to make a homemade explosive that flattened the grave.”
At the time he was arrested by the ISD, the youth’s plan to attack Keramat Habib Noh had not progressed beyond the conceptual stage.
According to the ISD, young people started down the path of radicalization in 2020 after coming across a YouTube video by two foreign extremist preachers.
From late 2021, the youth also expressed a desire to live in a Muslim caliphate governed by Sharia (Islamic law), according to the agency.
To this end, the ISD said it wanted to establish an Islamic caliphate in Singapore and recruit Muslims to join the caliphate.
The ISD has shown in previous investigations that he acted alone, and that he killed others while his family was unaware of his plans to attack or his intent to commit armed violence abroad. He said there was no indication that he had been successful in recruiting or radicalizing them.
In this case, the ISD said he had become deeply radicalized to the extent that he was ready to kill and die for the cause of ISIS, carrying out armed violence both in Singapore and abroad.
“Our assessment was that he had become an imminent security threat and was detained under the ISA,” the ISD said.
The ministry emphasized that his case highlights the enduring fascination of ISIS’ violent ideology, which it maintains through its online propaganda operations and global network of affiliates.
“The incident also highlights the trend of youth radicalization seen in recent years and the threat of lone attacks against soft targets using simple and readily available weapons,” it said. .-bernama
