Singapore authorities have arrested a 17-year-old young man before he could strike non-Muslims. The teenager had prepared it in an open area near the Tampines West Community Club utilising scissors or a kitchen knife. This is the fourth tried terrorist attack foiled by the authorities since 2020. The arrest reportedly dates back to August and is based on the Internal Security Act (ISA). In a press release on 18 October, the Internal Security Department (ISD) noted that a two-year detention order had been given to the young man since September.
According to the investigation, he had previously scheduled to travel to Syria to fight, after communicating with a foreign connection online for travel advice and researching flights. This was a meaningful trip for the 17-year-old as he would have been able to battle with ISIS ‘comrades to install an Islamic State in Syria. However, understanding that it would be difficult to travel to the Middle East without knowing his family’s doubts, he chose to strike in Singapore: a plan he supposed would be easier to undertake and would fulfil his aspirations to be a martyr, ISD informed the Singaporean media.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam expressed thousands of people pass through the targeted location daily and it would be more active than usual during the September school holidays.
“The suspect also comprehended that he would be thwarted by the police and had decided to die in the course of the episode. He wanted to become a martyr and I would say he came very close. Fortunately, the ISD arrested him in time,”
he stated.
According to the ISD, the young guy came across the teachings of foreign radical priests in 2023, while pursuing religious knowledge online. He assumed segregationist religious beliefs, including the idea that Muslims should not spread wishes such as Merry Christmas to non-Muslims.
The teenager was motivated by ISIS propaganda extolling ‘suicide attacks with knives’.
“Besides the pair of scissors, he considered using a kitchen knife in his house to penetrate people in the neck and kill or injure them,”
Shanmugam said.
According to the ISD, after the Hamas raid on Israel on 7 October 2023, the online extremist material of ISIS grew, so the young guy became self-radicalised.
He desired to join online groups that delivered updates on ISIS activities and believed in the use of armed violence to induct an Islamic caliphate. He aspired to die as a martyr battling for the terrorist organisation. In May, he took a bath, or oath of loyalty to ISIS. The ISD pointed out that the young man felt a sense of pride understanding that his plan if completed, would be the first terrorist episode in Singapore in decades.
