Singapore Teenager Arrested for Allegedly Planning ISIS-Inspired Terrorist Attack

Singapore arrested a teenager who was allegedly planning an ISIS-inspired terror attack in a busy suburb, the home minister said on Friday, adding that it was “a very close call”.

After watching Islamic State propaganda glorifying knife attacks, the 17-year-old visited the suburb to rehearse the attack before being arrested in August, Home Minister K. Shanmugam said.

“He was very serious because he actually practiced stabbing movements with the scissors. He checked which place would cause death – basically the neck area – then he practiced stabbing the neck,” Shanmugam told reporters.

“I would say it was a close call. It was fortunate that the ISD (Department of Homeland Security) arrested him in time.”

The teenager, detained under the Internal Security Act, was said to have planned a spate of stabbings to coincide with the September school holidays, when the area would be packed with people.

In a statement released on Friday, the ISD said the teenager was exposed to the deluge of online extremist materials published by the Islamic State group following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7 last year.

“He joined several online groups that provided updates on ISIS activities and believed in ISIS rhetoric of promoting the use of violence to establish an Islamic caliphate,” the ISD said.

In January, “young people became staunch supporters of ISIS and aspired to die as martyrs while fighting for the group,” he added.

He pledged allegiance to IS and intended to travel to Syria to fight there, according to ISD.

The teenager acted alone because he was unable to radicalize other people, the ISD added.

His family noticed him watching videos of radical preachers and advised him to stop, but he continued, using “code words” when discussing his beliefs online, the department said.

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