Singapore detains 3 ‘self-radicalised’ teens over planned attacks
The teens, aged 14 to 19, were held under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial
Singapore authorities said on Monday they had arrested three teenagers over separate plots to carry out shooting, stabbing and bomb attacks, warning of the threat of “youth radicalisation” in the security-conscious city state.
The three boys, detained between April and June, had been “self-radicalised” online, adopting violent extremist ideologies, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said.
They are held under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention without trial.
One of them, a 14-year-old student, is accused of planning a stabbing attack at his school, the ISD said.
Drawn to the jihadist ideology of the Islamic State group, he allegedly intended to target “non-Muslim teachers and schoolmates” and livestream the attack.
He had initially tried to acquire a gun but dropped the plan because of Singapore’s strict firearm laws, and considered making a bomb but lacked the funds for it, the ISD said.
The boy idolised mass shooters, and was a fan of first-person shooter games on online platform Roblox, according to the security agency.