Singapore detains teenage Isis supporter for plotting three attacks

Muhammad Irfan Danyal Mohamad Nor, who was self-radicalised, was arrested under Singapore’s Internal Security Act in December

The 18-year-old planned three attacks in Singapore and is the third youth detained under the Act since 2020

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Muhammad Irfan Danyal Mohamad Nor seen wearing a ski mask and holding a large knife was was detained in December under Singapore’s Internal Security Act. Photo: Singapore’s Internal Security Department/Handout

Published: 9:50pm, 1 Feb 2023Updated: 3:52am, 2 Feb 2023

A self-radicalised Singaporean teenager, who supported terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) and planned to set up an Islamic caliphate on Singapore’s Coney Island, was detained in December under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

In a statement on Wednesday, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said that Muhammad Irfan Danyal Mohamad Nor, an 18-year-old postsecondary student, had consumed “extensive Isis propaganda online” and was convinced of the terror group’s legitimacy.

He made plans to travel overseas to take up armed violence and aspired to establish an Islamic caliphate in Singapore, symbolically marking his intent by planting an al-Qaeda-inspired flag on Coney Island on National Day last August.

Irfan Danyal made his own flag that resembled the flag of an al-Qaeda-linked terror group. Photo: Singapore’s Internal Security Department

In reply to media queries, the Ministry of Education said Irfan was last in school at the close of term last November.

He is the third youth since 2020 to be detained under ISA.

In 2020, a secondary school student was detained after making detailed plans and preparations to attack Muslims at two mosques here. Then aged 16, he is the youngest to be detained under the ISA.

In March 2021, a former full-time national serviceman, 20, was detained after he made detailed plans and preparations to conduct attacks against Jews at the Maghain Aboth Synagogue here.

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