Singapore foils attack by 17-year-old self-radicalised Isis supporter

The arrest dates back to August: made public by the Internal Security Department (ISD), which confirmed two years' imprisonment. The plan was to attack with scissors and a kitchen knife in the crowded area near the Tampines West Community Club. It is the fourth foiled attack since 2020.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) - A 17-year-old young man from Singapore was arrested before he could carry out an attack against non-Muslims. The teenager had planned it in an open area near the Tampines West Community Club using scissors or a kitchen knife.

This is the fourth attempted terrorist attack foiled by the authorities since 2020. News of the student's latest arrest was only made public this month and published by The Straits Times.

The detention 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) stated that a two-year detention order had been issued for the young man since September.

According to the investigation, he had previously planned to travel to Syria to fight, after communicating with a foreign contact online for travel advice and researching flights.

This was a significant trip for the 17-year-old as he would have been able to fight with Isis ‘comrades’ to establish an Islamic State in Syria. However, knowing that it would be difficult to travel to the Middle East without arousing his family's suspicions, he decided to strike here: a plan he felt would be easier to carry out and would fulfil his aspirations to be a martyr, ISD told the Singaporean media.

Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said thousands of people pass through the targeted area daily and it would be busier than usual during the September school holidays.

‘The suspect also knew that he would be intercepted by the police and had decided to die in the course of the attack. He wanted to become a martyr and I would say he came very close. Fortunately, the ISD arrested him in time,' he said. According to the ISD, the young man came across the teachings of foreign radical preachers in 2023, while seeking religious knowledge online. He embraced segregationist religious beliefs, including the view that Muslims should not extend wishes such as ‘Merry Christmas’ to non-Muslims.

The teenager was inspired by Isis propaganda extolling ‘suicide attacks with knives’. ‘Besides the pair of scissors, he thought of using a kitchen knife in his house to stab people in the neck and kill or injure them,’ Shanmugam added.

According to the ISD, after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the online extremist material of Isis increased, so the young man had become self-radicalised.

He wanted to join online groups that provided updates on Isis activities and believed in the use of armed violence to establish an Islamic caliphate. In January, he aspired to die as a martyr fighting for the terrorist organisation. In May, he took a bai'ah, or oath of allegiance to Isis.

The ISD pointed out that the young man felt a sense of pride knowing that his plan, if successfully executed, would be the first terrorist attack in Singapore in decades.

Previous cases foiled by Singapore authorities include a 16-year-old youth who planned to attack Muslims using a machete in December 2020, and a 20-year-old angry about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict planned to stab Jews in a synagogue in 2021.

The latest involve an 18-year-old Isis supporter who had planned to stab and kill non-believers of Islam by ambushing them in dark alleys in December 2022; and, in the same year and month, a 15-year-old youth had planned to behead non-Muslims in popular tourist spots in the city.