People walk along the promenade at Marina bay in Singapore on February 1, 2023. – AFP photo
SINGAPORE (Feb 1): Singapore has detained an 18-year-old man, accusing him of supporting the Islamic State group and planning to carry out attacks, security officials said today.
Muhammad Irfan Danyal Mohamad Nor, a Singaporean student, was detained in December under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial for up to two years.
He became radicalised after viewing Islamic State group propaganda online, authorities said in a statement, adding that he wanted to use social media to gather fighters to conduct attacks in Singapore.
Authorities said his plans included recruiting a suicide car bomber to attack a military camp as well as bombing a grave site.
“At the point of arrest, he was determined to commit violence,” said Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam.
Such cases are rare in the multicultural and multi-racial city-state.
In 2020, authorities detained a 16-year-old who planned to attack two mosques in Singapore after being influenced by a massacre of Muslim worshippers in New Zealand.
The following year, a 20-year-old Singaporean Muslim was arrested under the same law, with authorities accusing him of planning a deadly stabbing spree against Jews at a synagogue. – AFP