Singaporean authorities prevent terrorist attack
A Singaporean teenager planned to carry out an attack against non-Muslim people with scissors and kitchen knives. He was arrested in August before he could carry out his plan, and the case was made public this month.
Singaporean authorities arrested a 17-year-old teenager for planning a terrorist attack back in August. The young man planned to attack non-Muslims in a crowded area with scissors and kitchen knives, but the authorities foiled his plan. He was in August and sentenced for two-year detention in September. The arrest and the details of the case were made public this month.
The 17-year-old man was self-radicalized by extremist materials he found online while looking for knowledge on religion online. He encountered teachings of extremist religious preachers and ISIS propaganda that influenced him. The young man initially planned to go to Syria to fight for the Islamic State but then decided on carrying out a terrorist suicide attack at home.
Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said that
“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.”
Internal Security Department (ISD) stated that since the Hamas attack on Israel last year, the number of extremist materials increased online, and that’s how the teenager became self-radicalized. He even took the oath of allegiance to ISIS and aspired to fight and die as a martyr for the terrorist group. According to ISD, the young man took pride in the thought that if he carries out his plan, it is going to be the first successful terrorist attack in Singapore in decades.
Since 2020, multiple terrorist attacks have been foiled by Singaporean authorities. In 2020, a 16-year-old planned to attack Muslims with a machete; in 2021, a 20-year-old infuriated by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict wanted to stab Jews in a synagogue. In 2022, a 20-year-old planned to ambush and kill non-Muslims, and around the same time, a 15-year-old forged a plan to behead non-Muslims in a tourist spot.
Source: Asia News
Photo: FMT