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SCMP Reporter

Agence France-Presse

Twenty-seven Bangladeshi nationals working in the construction industry in Singapore alleged to subscribe to extremist beliefs have been arrested under the country’s Internal Security Act (ISA), said the Ministry of Home Affairs in a press statement on Wednesday.
The group members are said to support the armed jihadi ideology of terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria.
The workers were being groomed to return to their home country to wage holy war, and some had studied booklets on assassination techniques, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.
Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said in a separate Facebook post that while they were planning attacks overseas, “they could have easily changed their minds and attacked Singapore”.
Several of members of the group also contemplated joining “armed jihad” in the Middle East, according to the MHA.
“They supported the armed jihad ideology of terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria,” the ministry said in the statement.
Officials said the Bangladeshis, arrested between November 16 and December 1 last year, worked in construction in Singapore, where large numbers of labourers mostly from South Asia live in often cramped dormitories.
The group members took measures to avoid detection by the authorities. They shared jihadi-related material discreetly among themselves, and held weekly meetings and gatherings where they discussed armed jihad and conflicts that involved Muslims
Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam
“The group members took measures to avoid detection by the authorities. They shared jihadi-related material discreetly among themselves, and held weekly meetings and gatherings where they discussed armed jihad and conflicts that involved Muslims,” the ministry said.
Shanmugam said the group held meetings regularly at a mosque.
The group was also actively recruiting members, the ministry said.
The MHA confirmed that the group’s 26 members have been deported, while the remaining Bangladeshi is serving a jail sentence for attempting to flee Singapore after learning about the arrests of the other members.
He will be repatriated to Bangladesh after he completes his sentence. The man was said not to have been a member of the group but was “in the process of being radicalised”.
According to the ministry’s statement, the group’s members were encouraged to return to Bangladesh and “wage armed jihad” against the government there, while some had sent money to terror-linked entities in their country.

The ministry said the 27, aged between 25 and 40, possessed radical and jihadi-related materials, including footage of children undergoing training in what seemed to be militant camps.
Excerpts from a video released by the ministry showed young boys dressed in black and wearing white caps firing pistols and automatic rifles during training.
A document that contained graphic images and instructions on how to carry out “silent killings”, using different methods and weapons, was also being shared among members.
An extract from a document, entitled “Techniques of Silent Killing” and released by the ministry, showed three drawings of a man approaching a seated victim from behind, covering the victim’s mouth with one hand and stabbing him with a knife.
Singapore authorities in late 2001 foiled an attempt to carry out bomb attacks on US and other foreign targets in the city-state, arresting several suspects in the process.
“The government takes a very serious view of any form of support for terrorism and will take firm and decisive action against any person who engages in any activity in support of terrorism,” the ministry said.
“Foreigners are guests of our country and they should not abuse this privilege and use Singapore as a base to import their own domestic political agenda and carry out activities in pursuit of such an agenda.”
Foreigners are guests of our country and they should not abuse this privilege and use Singapore as a base to import their own domestic political agenda and carry out activities in pursuit of such an agenda
Ministry of Home Affairs
The announcement of the arrests came less than a week after militants mounted attacks in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, leaving at least eight people dead, including four suspected attackers.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the coordinated bomb and gun assault on a central thoroughfare in the capital.
Singaporean officials have said that the city-state remains a target by militants because of the presence of a large number of multinational corporations and its status as a regional financial centre.
Singaporean police and civil defence forces carried out nationwide anti-terror exercises on Monday and Tuesday to test their readiness.
“We hope terror attacks don’t happen here, but we have to be prepared,” Shanmugam said on Tuesday after observing the exercises.
The group shared jihadi-related materials among themselves and held weekly meetings and gatherings where they discussed armed jihad and conflicts involving Muslims. They also had plans to recruit other Bangladeshi nationals to increase membership numbers. Several of the suspects had contemplated joining armed jihad in the Middle East.
But while members of the group had intentions to join the conflict, they were not planning to carry out any attacks in Singapore.
The statement also said that the Bangladeshi nationals held grievances against the Bangladeshi government and had sent monetary donations to groups with extremist links.
Jihadi-related material such as books, videos, including footages of children undergoing training in what appeared to be terrorist military camps were recovered from the possession of the group.
All but one of the men arrested have been repatriated to Bangladesh. The remaining Bangladeshi national is currently serving a sentence for attempting to leave Singapore via illegal and clandestine means.


Singapore arrests 27 ‘radicalised’ Bangladeshi workers under its Internal Security Act

No Caption Available.

An excerpt from the document, which depicts in a graphic manner how one can attack and kill with stealth. IMAGES: MHA

From left to right: Alam Khurshed, 27; Alam Mahabub, 34; Ali Abdul, 40. Ali Md Ashraf, 33; Alim Abdul, 32; Aminur, 31. Golam Jilani Abdur Rouf, 27; Haque Md Mofazzal, 29; Hasan Md Mahmudul, 30. Photo: Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs

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Singapore arrests 27 ‘radicalised’ Bangladeshi workers under its Internal Security Act

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