A self-radicalised 14-year-old Secondary 3 student has become the youngest person to be issued a restriction order under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in Singapore.
He is one among two Singaporeans who have been given restriction orders in the last two months.
The other individual is a 33-year-old female, An’nadya binte An’nahari, a former Manager with a Statutory Board, who had also been self-radicalised separately online.
According to a press release by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 15 July, both of them had a common trigger; the Israel-HAMAS conflict.
Self-radicalised Online
The 14-year-old teen, who was not named, was self-radicalised because of the Israel-HAMAS conflict and aspired to fight for the Black Flag Army (BFA).
He had also thought about carrying out attacks in Singapore.
The youth’s radicalisation was triggered by HAMAS’ 7 October 2023 attacks against Israel and took place within a few months after extensively viewing online pro-HAMAS content and news.
By January 2024, the teen believed that Palestinian militant groups like HAMAS, AQB and Al-Quds Brigades were “legitimate defenders of Palestine” and supported their violent acts.
After researching online, he also believed that the End of Times would occur during his lifetime and that he was obligated as a Muslim to fight for the BFA and die as a martyr.
He started adopting segregationist beliefs to prepare himself to join the BFA. For instance, he believed that celebrating birthdays and talking to his female classmates were forbidden under Islamic Law.
He also prepared himself physically to fight for the BFA and planned to save money by working part-time so that he could travel to Afghanistan where he believed the BFA would emerge.
Tried To Radicalise Schoolmates & Considered Carrying Out Attacks In Singapore
The teen also tried unsuccessfully to radicalise his schoolmates and wanted to recruit them to fight with him alongside the BFA.
He created an online chat group and invited six schoolmates to join. He then shared videos and links on armed violence in the chat group, along with several videos of himself as a terrorist fighter.
In the videos, he talked about the virtues of dying righteously as a martyr of Islam.
He also considered carrying out attacks in Singapore if he was unable to travel to join the BFA.
He wanted to increase the membership of his online chat group to 60-100 people and conduct attacks against non-Muslim communities during local festivals like Chinese New Year, Christmas and Deepavali.
The attacks aimed to instil fear amongst non-Muslims to discourage them from “un-Islamic” festivities and establish an Islamic state in Singapore.
Parents Noticed Increasingly Segregrationalist Beliefs
Though his family members were not aware of his radicalisation, they did notice his increasing segregationist beliefs.
However, they did not think that it warranted intervention or assistance.
The teen will undergo a youth rehabilitation programme where he will go through religious counselling by the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) to address the religious misperceptions that contributed to his extremist ideology.
“He will also receive psychological counselling by an ISD psychologist, to address the non-ideological factors that rendered him vulnerable to radicalisation. Given his young age, he will be assigned with a RRG mentor. ISD officers will also be working closely with the youth’s family and school to ensure that he has adequate support to stay on track with his rehabilitation and that his studies will not be disrupted,” said ISA.
Ex-Public Servant First Attracted Security Interest In 2021
An’nadya, on the other hand, had first attracted security interest in May 2021 for online posts that could potentially result in social disharmony.
She did not display radical inclinations then and subsequently deleted her posts after being advised by the authorities.
An’nadya’s radicalisation began after HAMAS’s attacks against Israel on 7 October 2023.
In April 2024, she came to attention when she made threats online to kill and attack Israelis.
She began watching online videos of the situation in Gaza, majority of which showed Palestinians being killed.
She also joined multiple social media groups which shared information on military operations by HAMAS and its military wing, AQB.
An’nadya later became aware of the AOR and their military operations.
“She began to view the groups under the AOR as resistance fighters, despite knowing that they had been designated as terrorist organisations in several jurisdictions,” said ISA.
Called For Violence Against Singapore
She began to actively participate in several pro-AOR social media groups where she identified herself as Singaporean.
She also openly showed her support for the AOR and their violent operations, expressed emnity towards Israel and Jews and made violent threats.
According to ISA, she also called for violence against Singapore.
In addition, she had close online contact with pro-AOR individuals and exchanged violent, extremist views in private messages with them.
In March 2024, one of her online contacts began a new social media channel to spread awareness of the AOR’s military operations and increase public support.
He asked An’nadya to join the channel and become an administrator. She agreed and shared the channel’s invite link with her family members and friends to get them to join. However, she was not successful in recruiting them.
“An’nadya’s staunch support for the AOR and their violent operations, and her willingness to spread propaganda to promote their cause, render her a security concern. Further, her close online contact with foreign extremist elements renders her vulnerable to being exploited or recruited for terrorist activities,” explained ISA.
ISA reiterated that both cases demonstrate that overseas conflicts have an impact on Singapore’s domestic threat landscape, and pose a threat to our national security and social harmony.
Here are some signs of radicalisation:
- Frequently surfing radical websites
- Posting/sharing extremist views on social media platforms, such as expressing support/admiration for terrorists/terrorist groups as well as the use of violence
- Sharing extremist views with friends and relatives
- Making remarks that promote ill-will or hatred towards people of other races, religions or communities
- Expressing intent to participate in acts of violence overseas or in Singapore; and/or
- Inciting others to participate in acts of violence.
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